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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


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Couverture  endommagde 


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10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

ire 

details 
les  du 
modifier 
ler  une 
filmage 


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6es 


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la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  fii  ned  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
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Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  on  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  film6  d  partir 
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et  de  h&ui  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


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THE    ABNAKIS 


AND 


THEIR    HISTORY. 


OR 


)i5t0tital  '^Qiim 


ON   THE 


ABORIGINES    OF    ACADIA 


BY 


REV.  EUGENE  YEmOMILE, 

MISSIONARY  OF  TUB  ETCHEMIN8,   CORKESPONDINa  MEMBER  OF  THE  MAINE 
UIBTOBIOAL  80CIBTT    ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 
JAMES     B.     KIRKER, 

699  BPOADWAT,  TIP  STAIRS. 
Sold  f 07'  the  benefit  of  the  Indians. 

1866. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  166<), 

Bt  EUGENE  VETROMILE, 

In  t]i«  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tlie  United  Stated  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  v  rk. 


E.   OBAIOHEAD,    PRINTER, 
81,  88,  and  86  Cenir*  tU  K.  T. 


INDEX. 


e  Southern 


PAQR. 
PUEFACE Vii 

CHAPTER  I. 
North  American  Indians .' 11 

CHAPTER  n. 
Division  of  the  North  American  Indians 14 

CHAPTER  HI. 
Tlie  Abnakis,  a  proper  and  distinct  nation 17 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Abnakis,  original  people 25 

CHAPTER  V. 
Manners  and  language  of  the  Abnakis 84 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Abnaki  hand-writing 40 

CHAPTER  YIL 
Acadia — Analysis    and    meaning  of  the  word — Its  limits  and 
aborigines  of  Acadia — Remarks  on  Agguneia,  the  original 
name  of  tl  .e  Penobscot  River  44 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Indian  villages  ir  Acadia — On  tl  e  Penobscot — On  the  St.  Croix, 
and  on  St.  John's  Rivers — In  the  rest  of  New  Brunswick 
— On  Nova  Scotia 52 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Religion  and  superstition . . . : 60 


iV  INDEX. 

PAQK 

CHAPTER  X. 
Publiclife  71 

CHAPTER  XT. 
Astronomy  and  division  of  time T5 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Domestic  life    83 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Present  condition  of  the  Indians 93 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
Division  of  parties  amongst  the  Indians  of  Maine — Indians  of  tlie 

British  Provinces 104 

CHAPTJCR  XV. 
Character  of  the  Indians 125 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Vindication  of  the  character  of  the  Indians — Imputation  of  cruel- 
ty    128 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  same  subject  continued.     Charge  of  treachery 1 33 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Present  treatment  of  the  Indians  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Hanging  of  thirty-nine  Minnesota  Indians 14*7 

CHAPTER   XIX. 
Treatment  of  the  California  Indians.     Reservation  system  adopted 
by  the  Government  like  that  of  the  Catholic  missioni  in  Ame- 
rica     151 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Conclusion. . .    161 

Appendix 165 


l\ 


mtmi 


TO  THE 


ET.  EEV.  DAVID  W.  BACON,  D.D., 

Bishop  op  Portlan^d  or  Vineland. 


)pl. 

147 

ed 

le- 

•   • 

151 

•   • 

161 

1  • 

166 

My  Lord  : — In  dedicating  and  humbly  submitting  this 
sjnall  volume  to  your  lordship,  I  beg  leave  to  state  that 
I  have  not  been  actuated  by  its  merit,  it  being  nothing 
more  than  a  collection  of  a  few  historical  facts  compiled 
with  care,  and  presented  in  these  pages;  but  I  have 
been  determined  by  motives  too  po^  erful  for  me  to 
look  elsewhere  than  in  your  person  for  protector  of 
this  work.  Amongst  the  many  reas*  ..  "^wo  are  the 
principal ;  First.  That  part  of  Acadia,  which  is  com- 
prehended in  the  State  of  Maine, 'belongs  to  the  diocese 
of  Portland,  of  which  you  are  the  first  Bishop,  whom 
Divine  Providence  announced  seventy  years  ago,  when 
the  good  Bishop  John  Carioll  from  Baltimore  pro- 
mised to  the  Etchemins,  now  a  portion  of  your  flock,  a 
pastor  to  remain  with  them.  And,  indeed,  since  your  ac- 
cession to  the  See  of  Portland,  the  diocese  has  received 
new  lite,  not  only  in  the  erection  of  many  churches,  con- 
vents. Catholic  schools  and  asylums,  and  in  carrying  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  to  the  far  distant  wilderness  of  Maine 


DEDICATION. 


and  New  Iliinipsliire,  which  you  have  provulod  with 
pastors,  but  ulso  in  the  rcibiniation  of  the  morals  of 
Catholics,  who  are  grown  in  piety  and  fervor,  as  the 
prnctice  of  tlie  Sacraments,  the  pious  Associations,  and 
other  works  of  devotion  testify. 

The  other  reason  is,  that  those  Aborigines  of  Acadia 
entrusted  to  your  spiritual  cliarge  are  the  first  Catholics, 
and  the  harbingers  of  Christianity  in  the  United  States. 
For  before  Lord  Baltimore  in  the  Ark  and  Dove  enter- 
ed Chesi'.peake  Bay  and  planted  the  Catholic  religion 
on  the  shores  of  the  Potomac  in  Maryland,  the  mission 
at  St.  Saviour  had  been  established  in  your  diocese  by 
Father  Peter  Biard  at  Mount  Desert,  where  a  Catholic 
chapel  was  erected,  and  the  Catholic  religion  acquired 
the  right  of  first  occupation  in  the  State  of  Maine,  a 
right  which  was  sealed  with  the  blood  of  Brother  Du 
Thet.  From  the  Indian  villages  of  Mount  Desert  the 
Etchemins  saluted  the  Catholic  missionaries,  and  asked 
to  be  regenerated  in  tlie  salutary  waters  of  bajitism, 
seven  years  before  Samoset  from  the  rock  of  Plymouth 
welcomed  the  Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower.  Before  George 
Popham  stepped  on  an  island  of  the  Kennebec  River, 
the  shores  of  that  river  and  of  the  St.  Croix  had  been 
dedicated  to  the  Catholic  religion  by  Father  Biard  and 
other  missionaries  from  France,  and  by  French  settle- 
ments under  De  Mor.ts  on  Boon  Island.  These  are,  my 
Lord,  some  of  the  motives  which  have  actuated  me  to 
offer  you  this  small  volume ;  and  I  flatter  myself  that 
you  will  acce[)t  it  as  a  token  of  respect  and  attachment 
from  the  least  worthv  of  vour  servants. 

Eugene  Vktromile, 

Af'syionary  of  the  EtdumiiiS. 


PREFACE. 


Tin:  liistory  of  Acadia  is  strictly  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Cliurch  in  New  England,  and  to 
preserve  its  fragments  is  to  give  a  contribution  to  tlie 
liistory  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  America.  The  Abo- 
rigines of  7\cadia  \,ere  the  first  native  Amoiicans  that 
received  ilic  light  of  the  Gospel  and  embraced  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  This  fact  has  never  been  denied.  The 
Etchemins  and  iMicmacs  to  this  day  hear  witness  of  tlie 
permanence  of  the  fruit  produced  by  the  labors  of  Ca- 
tholic inissionnries.  The  same  would  have  been  the  case 
with  the  Abnakis,  if  they  had  not  had  the  misfortune 
of  being  brouglit  in  contact  with  the  colonists  of  Eng- 
land, who  succeeded  in  nearly  extinguishing  that  noble 
and  kind  nation,  but  never  in  extirpating  their  religion. 
While  all  admit  that  the  Aborigines  of  Acadia  were 
the  first  Christians  of  New  England,  yet  there  are  per- 
sons who  endeavor  to  rob  the  Catholic  reliofion  of  the 
claim  which  she  has  acquired  of  being  the  first  religion 
ever  practised  not  only  in  New  England,  but  also  in  the 
Avhole  continent  of  America.  The  Puritans  claim  to 
be  the  first  who  have  exercised  the  Christian  religion 
in  New  England,  because  they  landed  jn  Massachusetts 
in  the  year  1620,  but  the  Ejdscopalians  dispute  it  on  ac- 
count of  George  Popham,  who  about  fourteen  years 
])reviously  lad  landed  on  an  island  of  the  Kennebec 
Kiver  in   ^Maiiie,  ^^•here  a-  meet'ii'fy  vras  held,  Nvhich  is 


VIU 


PREFACE. 


claimed  by  them  to  have  been  a  religious  meeting  ac- 
cording to  the  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
Catholic  settlements  are  not  mentioned,  and  the  religious 
exercises  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  State  of  Maine 
are  ignored. 

Documentary  proofs  establish  the  fact  that  Northmen 
from  Norway  and  Ireland  had  established  themselves  in 
Iceland  and  Greenland  i  .  fore  a.  d.  1000.  About  that 
year  they  coasted  the  North  American  shores  as  far 
south  as  41°  30'  north  latitude,*  and  the  well  attested 
narratives  of  their  voyages  and  discovery  of  this  country 
justify  the  conclusion  that  they  had  given  the  name  of 
Vineland  to  the  Atlantic  coast  of  New  England.  The 
remark,  made  in  the  course  of  this  volume,  that  the  sun 
remained  eight  hours  visible  during  the  shortest  day  of 
the  year,  and  that  the  land  must  have  been  Newfound- 
land^ proves  only,  that  either  they  ?pont  the  winter  in 
Newfoundland^  or  that  they  had  not  yet  proceeded  fur 
ther  south  to  the  41°  30'  north  latitude,  which  seems  to 
be  an  established  fact.f  The  Abnakis  and  Etchemin  In- 
dians preserve  amongst  them  the  word  Madocowando 
as  a  personal  name.  Owando  means  devil^  but  Madoc 
is  acknowledged  by  them  to  be  a  foreign  word  whose 
meaiimg  they  do  not  know.  It  is  found  preserved  in 
the  Scandinavian  annals,  that  3Iadoc  was  the  name  of 
the  leader  of  a  Welsh  voyage  and  colony  to  this  coun- 
try in  A.  D.  11T8. 

Leif,  son  of  Eric  the  Red,  was  baptized  in  Norway  by 
St.  Glaus,  then  king  of  that  country,  and  in  1000,  he 
bore  with  him  ])rie8ts  to  convert  tho  colonies  in  Ameri- 


*  Antiquitntes  Americana?.     Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Northern  Antiquaries. 

I  Anierioan  Archa?ology,  by  Samuel  F.  Haven. 


tmma 


iting  ac- 
id. The 
religious 
>f  Maine 

orthmen 
selves  in 
out  that 
B  as  far 
attested 
country 
name  of 
d.    The 
the  sun 
t  day  of 
ofound- 
inter  in 
ied  fur 
eeras  to 
min  In- 
owando 
Madoc 

whose 
•ved  in 
a  me  of 

coun- 


PKEFACE. 


IX 


ca.  Eric,*  the  most  celebrated  of  these  missionaries,  in 
1120  returned  to  Europe  to  procure  the  establishment  of 
a  bishopric.  The  Scandinavian  bishops  deemed  him  the 
most  suitable  person,  and  he  was  consecrated  at  Lund, 
in  Denmark,  in  1121  by  Archb  nop  Adzer.  He  soon  re- 
turned to  Greenland  with  a  number  of  clergy,  and  thus 
the  f^rst  American  See  was  founded,  and  the  organization 
of  the  Catholic  Church  was  properly  established  in  this 
country  in  a.  d.  1121. 

After  the  discoveries  of  Christopher  Columbus,  Ameri- 
cus  Vespucci,  and  Cabot,  the  French  kings  felt  the  duty 
of  converting  the  nadvos  to  the  true  religion.  Cartier's 
commission  authorized  liim  to  explore,  "  in  order  the  bet- 
ter to  do  what  is  pleasing  to  God,  our  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer, and  what  may  be  for  the  increase  of  His  holy 
and  sacred  name,  and  of  our  Holy  Mother  the  Church." 
De  Monts,  the  founder  of  Acadia,  although  a  Calvinist, 
was  expressly  required  in  his  charter  to  have  the  Indi- 
ans instructed,  and  invited  to  a  knowledge  of  God  and 
the  light  of  faith  and  Christianity.  It  is  clear  it  is  to  be  the 
true  faith,  and  not  the  Calvinist.  Although  some  Hugue- 
nots were  amongst  the  Colonists,  yet  the  Colony  was 
Catholic,  and  Lescarbot  makes  express  mention  of  a 
church  being  built  on  Boon  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Croix  River,  as  eaily  as  1604,  which  v;as  attended  by 
a  chaplain.  The  King  of  France  would  have  never  re- 
quired De  Monts  to  establish  the  Calvinist  religion.  We 
know  that  every  vessel  belonging  to  the  French  Govern- 
ment was  always  provided  with  a  Catholic  chaplain. 
We  are  not  aware  of  any  exception  to  this  rule,  even  in 
the  time  of  Henry  IV.  Poutrincourt,  who  succeeded  De 
Monts  in  the  work  of  colonization,  addressed  a  touching 


*  Not  to  bo  confuuuded  with  Eric  the  Red. 


PREFACE. 


:S 


m 


letter  to  the  Pope,  and  obtained  his  benediction  on  hia 
labors. 

This  circumstance  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  colony- 
was  Catholic.  It  is  true  that  it  was  removed  to  Port 
Royal  in  Nova  Scotia,  yet  the  missionaries  continued  to 
work  amongst  the  Indians  of  Maine.  Father  Biard,  be- 
fore leaving  Port  Royal  to  establish  the  mission  of  St. 
Saviour  in  Maine  in  1613,  had  ab'eady  visited  the  shores 
of  the  Kennebec,  and  spoken  very  highly  of  it  to  the 
Marchioness  de  Guercheville,  the  patroness  of  the  mis- 
sions. She  had  chosen  the  Kennebec  as  the  spot  des- 
tined for  a  new  mission  ;  a  patent  from  the  King,  and  a 
grant  or  release  from  De  Monts,  a  former  patentee,  were 
obtained  for  this  object.  It  was  through  a  mistake  of 
the  pilot  that  they  landed  on  the  east  side  of  Mount 
Desert  Island. 

The  Episcopalians  say  that  Boon  Island  was  not  then 
a  part  of  New  England.  At  that  time  there  was  no 
New  England,  hence  the  spot  where  George  Popham 
landed  was  not  in  it ;  the  whole  country  was  called 
North  America.  In  1606,  James  I.  divided  the  portion 
of  North  America  lying  between  the  34th  and  45th  de- 
grees of  latitude  i'ato  two  parts,  and  called  it  North  and 
South  Virginia,  which  were  granted  to  two  companies. 
It  was  only  in  1614,  that  Prince  Charles  changed  the 
name  of  North  Virginia  to  that  of  New  England. 
There  was  no  mention  made  of  the  degree  of  longi- 
tude. In  1620,  a  new  patent  was  granted  to  the  Ply- 
mouth Company,  comprehending  that  part  of  the  country 
lying  40  and  48  degrees  from  North  to  South,  and  ex- 
tending throughout  the  mainland  from  sea  to  sea,  under 
the  name  of  New  England  in  America.  At  all  events, 
the  place  of  the  first  settlement  by  De  Monts  was  in  the 
land  now  called  New  England.     France  claimed  the  same 


-4 


'V 


'-Jl 


-^■;-,  fBT'liJl  "■ II  III!  ■ 


PREFACE. 


XI 


i  on  his 

I  colony 
to  Port 
lued  to 
ird,  be- 
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shores 
to  the 
he  mis- 
ot  des- 
>  and  a 
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country  from  the  36th  to  the  62d  degree  of  latitude, 
under  the  name  of  New  France.  This  establishes  the 
fact  that  the  first  settlement  in  New  England  was 
Catholic;  the  first  religious  service  performed,  was 
Catholic;  the  first  religion  preached  to  the  natives  of 
America,  was  Catholic;  and  the  first  converts  were 
Catholics. 

If  any  part  of  the  enrly  history  of  this  country  re- 
quires more  light  and  illustration,  it  is  that  which  re- 
gards the  Abnakis  and  the  Aborigines  of  Acadia.  It 
is  with  this  view  that  the  author  has  collected  all  the 
historical  documents,  that  he  has  met  with  not  only  in 
printed  works,  as  Charlevoix,  Bressani,  Letters  of  Learn- 
ed Travellers,  etc. ;  but  in  several  manuscripts  left  by 
Father  Maillard,  Demilier,  and  by  others  whose  name  is 
not  known,  which  he  has  found  amongst  the  Indians.  He 
has  also  made  a  sober  and  critical  use  of  all  traditions 
yet  remaining  amongst  the  natives  of  Acadia.  A  few 
remarks  have  been  added  on  the  character  of  the  Indians, 
in  order  to  vindicate  them  from  some  accusations,  which 
are  brought  up  against  them,  as  a  pretext  to  dispossess 
them  of  their  land. 

With  the  hope  that  his  labors  will  not  be  found  entire- 
ly useless  to  the  student  and  general  reader,  he  submits 
it  to  the  public  judgment. 

BiDDEFORD,  Mb.  Jan.  10,  1866. 


w 


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V.^2l 


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■■^; 


M. 


4l6^>r-. 


THE  ABNAKIS 

AND 

THE  ABORIGINES  OF  ACADIA. 


CHAPTER  L 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS. 


THE  disparity  between  the  inhabitants  of  Eu- 
rope and  of  America  is  so  strilcing  that  it  has 
moved  some  to  venture  on  the  ill-founded, 
erroneous,  and  infidel  opinion  that  they  cannot 
derive  their  origin  from  one  common  source  with 
the  other  races.  Philosophers,  however,  who  have 
studied  the  character  of  the  Indians,  and  persons 
acquainted  with  their  manners  and  language,  now 
feel  no  hesitation  in  adopting  the  well  grounded  hypo- 


12 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


i 


Uii 


thesis,  that  the  aborigines  of  this  continent  first 
came  from  Asia  by  the  Bhering's  Straits.  It  was 
an  opinion  of  Bnffon  and  other  European  philo- 
sophers, that  the  Northern  and  Arctic  regions  had 
formerly  enjoyed  a  milder  state  of  atmosphere  than 
they  do  at  present,  and  that  the  climate  is  slowly 
but  gradually  changing  to  a  colder  temperature. 
They  adduce  many  good  reasons,  which  can  be 
found  in  the  works  of  Buffon  and  other  writers,  who 
have  treated  this  subject  at  length.  This  well-known 
theory  has  been  confirmed  by  discoveries  made  by 
Captain  Parry  on  Melville  Island,  by  Captain  Ross, 
CaptaiiWIcClure  on  Banks  Island,  by  the  immortal 
but  ill-fated  Sir  John  Franklin,  and  by  the  oflicers 
^  of  the  Jiesolute,*  who  in  1853  were  in  search  of  him 
and  of  his  crew,  which  shared  the  same  fate  with 
him.  An  extensive  coal  formation  has  been  found 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mackenzie  river,  where  the  beds 
of  lignUe  are  subject  to  spontaneous  combustion.  At 
Melville  Island  and  in  old  Greenland  f  there  has  been 
discovered  bituminous  coal,  which  by  several  geolo- 
gists is  conceived  to.belong  only  to  temperate  latitudes. 
Admitting  this  nearly  certain  theory,  the  desolate 
Russian  America,  the  unexplored  region  west  of 
Mackenzie's  river,  the  inhospitable  Labrador,  Prince 
William's  Land,  and  the  region  north-west  of  Hud- 
son's Bay,  enjoyed  once  a  milder  climate,  which 
corroborates  the  always  favorite  and  well  supported 


*  This  is  the  same  Resolute  abandoned  by  her  crew  and  found  by 
Bome  Yankee  whaler.  It  was  refitted  and  presented  by  the  United 
States  to  the  British  Government. 

f  Capt.  Parry's  third  voyage. 


ftf 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


13 


opinion  of  a  former  intercourse  and  commerce  with 
Asia  by  the  Straits  of  Bhering.  Captain  Kay,  of  the 
whale-ship  Superior,  testifies,  that  while  he  was 
fishing  in  Bhering's  Straits  he  saw  canoes  going 
from  one  continent  to  the  other.  The  origin  of 
the  native  Americans  is  thus  evidently  explained. 
It  has  been  also  observed  that  Korth  Americans 
have  habits  and  manners  similar  to  the  Tchuktchians, 
Kamtschatkans,  Yakoutsks^-and  Koriaks  of  Asia.  A 
similarity  in  the  language  has  been  discovered  ;  and 
the  Americans  have  been  found  to  have  designated 
the  months  in  the  calendar  with  names  of  animals, 
as  in  Japan  and  Kalmuchia. 

To  an  I)uropean  or  Anglo-American  all  Indians 
look  alike,  but  persons  accustomed  to  them  can  very 
easily  discern  even  one  tribe  from  another.  The  dif- 
ference, however,  is  not  such  as  to  infer  that  all 
tribes  do  not  descend  from  the  same  stock.  Even 
tlie  hardy  Esquimaux  race  of  Greenland,  so  remark- 
able for  their  dwarfishness,  and  a  propensity  of  select- 
ing for  their  abode  the  most  desolate  and  inhospi- 
table regions,  and  who  differ  most  from  the  rest 
of  Indians  in  physical  characteristics,  manners,  and 
language,  attain  along  the  shores  of  America  the 
same  stature  as  other  races  of  men,  and  after  cross- 
ing the  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  river  tliey  blend 
with  the  rest  of  the  Indians  in  every  respect.  As 
low  down  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  as  Vancouver's 
Island,  the  natives  have  some  characteristics  of  the 
Esqidmaux  race,  so  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
tell  where  the  Indians  became  Esquimaux,  or  where 
the  Esquimaux  became  Indians. 


\ 


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CHAPTER  II. 


DIVISION   OF   THE   NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS. 


W 


^|>F,  from  the  identity  of  language  and  manners, 
JL  we  infer  that  of  nations,  we  can  divide  the 
natives  of  North  America  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi into  four  large  families,  the  Esquimaux,  the 
Algic,  the  Dahcota,  and  the  Muscolgee  or  Mobi- 
lian.  The  Esquimaux  occupies  Greenland,  Prince 
William's  Land,  Labrador,  and  the  Korth-western 
Continent  round  Hudson's  Bay  and  as  far  west  as 
Russian  America,  along  the  coasts  of  the  Polar  Sea, 
round  Icy  Cape,  Bhering's  Strait,  and  Bhering  Sea, 
to  the  Peninsula  Alaska,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie's  River  is  one  of  the 
several  mustering  points  at  which  they  assemble  at 
certain  stated  times.  The  Algic  family,  or  Algon- 
quin, the  largest  of  all,  is  bounded  north  by  the  Es- 
quimaux family,  and  as  far  west  as  the  Great  Slave 


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03 

THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


15 


■'I 


Lake.  They  occupied  once  the  whole  Atlantic  shore, 
from  Newfoundland  to  Virginia,  then  westward, 
striking  the  Mississippi,  whose  western  shore  they 
possessed  to  its  source  ;  then  the  Ked  River  and  the 
Saskachawan  to  the  Ahabaska.  They  are  sub-divided 
in  four  nations,  Lenni-Lenapi,  Abnaki,  Iroquois,  and 
Chipeways.  The  Mobilian  or  Muscolgee  family 
embraces  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Natchez,  and  all 
the  tribes  south-east  of  the  Mississippi,  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  great  Algonquin  nation.  The  Daco- 
tah  family  comprehends  the  Sioux  and  all  the  tribes 
of  the  western  shore  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Indians 
west  of  the  Kocky  Mountains  are  not  yet  well  known. 
The  Algic  family,  with  the  exception  of  the  Iro- 
quois, and  of  the  Tuscarora  tribe  which  left  North 
Carolina  and  joined  the  five  Iroquois  nations,  were 
not  of  a  cruel  disposition,  and  we  do  not  read  of 
them  those  cruelties  and  barbarities  which  are 
reported  as  common  to  the  Iroquois  and  other 
Indians.  If  they  were  at  times  hostile  to  the 
Europeans  it  was  due  mainly  to  ill  treatment 
received.  The  European  settlers  were  welcomed 
by  the  Indians.  When  in  December,  1620,  the 
passengers  of  the  Mayflower  landed  among  the 
snows  of  Plymouth,  they  heard  the  voice  of  Samo- 
set  crying,  ''  Welcome,  Englishmen  I  welcome.  Eng- 
lishmen ! "  The  Indians  offered  a  cordial  hospi- 
tality to  the  white  race.  It  is  true  that  they 
were  in  what  the  Europeans  call  a  barbarism, 
yet  it  was  a  state  of  an  honest  independence  and 
noble  simplicity.  It  is  true,  that  the  natives  of  the 
North  had  no  cities,  and  none  of  the  European  arts  : 


f 


16 


THE  ABNAKIS:  ANP  THEIE  HISTORY. 


agriculture  itself  was  hardly  known,  or  practised 
very  sparingly ;  but  the  requirements  of  life  were 
not  so  numerous  as  in  civilized  nations.  They  lived 
by  hunting  the  wild  animals,  which  their  mountains 
and  forests  supplied  in  great  abundance. 

The  natives  seeing  the  white  race  so  rapidly 
increase  in  this  country,  and  invading  their  land  and  . 
rivers,  were  startled  with  a  serious  apprehension  of 
losing  their  hunting  grounds,  and  after  several  acts 
of  hostility  from  the  part  of  the  whites,  took  up  arms 
against  them.  Their  fears  have  been  realized.  The 
Puritans  massacred  in  a  single  day  the  entire 
nation  of  the  Pecjuods  residing  in  New  England, 
and  this  wholesale  slaughter  was  so  complete  that 
it  has  been  said  by  an  eminent  historian  that  there 
did  not  remain  a  sannup  or  squaw  or  a  child  of  the 
Pequod  name,  Many  other  tribes  afterwards  shared 
the  same  fate.  Entire  nations  have  been  continually 
driven  backwards,  others  have  lost  their  hunting 
grounds,  and  may  soon  eJ^pect  to  find  not  a  corner 
to  pitch  their  wigwams  on  that  land,  of  which  they 
were  once  the  only  masters, 


MMnKMHMW 


CHAPTEE  III. 


THE    ABNAKI8,   A   PROPER  AND   DISTINCT   NATION. 


»       t 

I.    I 


LTHOUGH  the  Abnakis  were  once  a  pow- 
erful nation,  and  occupied  from  the  shores 
of  the  great  St.  Lawrence  down  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kenne- 
bec river  to  the  eastern  part  of  New  Hampshire, 
yet  the  kind  and  gentle  Abnaki  has  almost  dis- 
appeared from  Maine.  The  few  of  that  ancient 
and  noble  nation  that  remain — mixed  with  other 
tribes  of  Canada — will  soon  share  the  same  fate.  It 
is  true  that  the  deep  mosses  of  Maine  shall  no  more 
be  imprinted  with  the  moccasin  of  its  ancient  mas- 
ter, yet  no  man  shall  ever  be  able  to  efface  the  name 
of  the  Abnaki  from  this  extensive  land.  Every  hill 
and  valley,  every  river  and  brook,  every  lake  and 
pond,  every  bay  and  promontory,  bears  witness  of 
that  nation.    True  !  the  Abnaki  disappeared  from 


18 


THE  ABITAKIS  :  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


this  soil,  but  not  before  having  marked  every  nook, 
stream,  and  pond  with  the  name  of  their  owner.  The 
granite  monument  on  the  left  shore  of  the  Kennebec 
river,  near  Norridg«wock,  points  out  the  lonely  spot 
of  the  last  Abnaki  village  in  this  State — the  only 
spot  east  of  the  Mississippi  marked  with  a  monument 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  an  Indian  village  of  the 
last  century,  to  which  so  many  historical  recollections 
remain  attached — a  monument  which  is  the  pride  of 
the  antiquarian,  and  the  target  of  vandalic  hands. 

The  aborigines  that  once  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
Kennebec  river,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  were  visited 
earlier  than  any  other  Indian  nation  of  New  France 
and  Acadia,  if  we  except  the  Souriquois  or  Mic- 
macs.  Before  Father  Biard,  in  1613,  sailed  from 
Port  Royal  in  Kova  Scotia  for  Mount  Desert,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot  river,  he  had  already 
visited  the  shores  of  the  Kennebec,  and  the  people 
of  that  country.*  He  speaks  very  highly  of  them,  as 
of  a  powerful  nation  living  in  settled  villages.  Yet 
it  is  to  be  lamented  that  so  little  is  known  of  them,  as 
even  to  render  their  very  existence  doubtful  to  60M4e 
antiquarians  of  the  present  age.  That  eminent  scho- 
lar. Baron  William  von  Humboldt,  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters, urged  the  publication  of  the  dictionary  of 
Father  Rasles,  on  the  ground  that  very  little  was 
known  of  the  dialect  of  the  Abnakis,  and  its  publi- 
cation would  preserve  that  language  from  perpetual 
oblivion.f 

*  Shea:  Catholic  Miss,  in  the  U.  S.,  p.  131. 
f  Joha  Pickering's  Notes  on  Jonathan  Edwards,  D.  D.  Mohegan 
Indians. 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


19 


It  is  a  fact  well  known,  that  very  often  the  same 
tribe  or  nation  has  received  different  names  from 
various  persons  or  nations ;  so  the  Abnakis  were  called 
Taranteens  by  the  Kew  Englanders,^  and  Owenagun- 
gas  by  the  New  Yorkers.  This  fact  has  led  several 
persons  to  think  that  the  number  of  the  Indian 
tribes  was  larger  than  it  was  in  reality.  Travellers, 
meeting  the  same  tribe,  or  a  part  of  it,  encamped 
in  different  places,  have  often  been  misled  in  tak- 
ing them  for  different  nations.  The  Indians  are  a 
roving  people,  and  it  is  a  frequent  occurrence  to  find 
the  same  tribe  now  at  one  place,  now  at  another ;  in 
this  manner  the  same  tribe  may  have  been  reckoned 
several  times.  I  can  give  an  illustration  of  it  in  the 
Indians  who  live  in  Maine.  The  Passamaquoddy 
tribe  at  present  dwells  at  four  places.  One  part  at 
Pleasant  Point,  near  Perry,  another  part  at  Calais, 
another  on  the  Schoodic  lakes,  and  another  on  the 
British  shore  of  the  St  Croix  river.  Travellers  not 
acquainted  with  this  fact  would  make  four  tribes  out 
of  this  nation,  which  forms  only  one  tribe. 

"VYe  must  admit  that  a  large  portion  of  the  IN'orth 
American  Indians  were  called  Abnakis,  if  not  by 
themselves,  at  least  by  others.  This  word  Ahnaki  is 
found  spelt  Ahenaques^  Abenaki^  Wapanachhi)  and 
Wahenahies^  by  different  writers  of  various  nations, 
each  adopting  a  manner  of  spelling  according  to 
the  rules  of  pronunciation  of  his  respective  native 
languages.  This,  however,  is  of  no  consequence. 
The  word  generally  received  is  spelled  thus,  Ahnaki^ 
but  it  should  be  Wdnhd?iaghi,  from  the  Indian  word 

*  Shea :  Hist    >f  the  CathoHc  Mlaa. 


■*    { 


20 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


wdnbdnharij  designating  the  people  of  the  Aurora 
Borealis,  or  in  general,  of  the  place  where  the  sky 
commences  to  appear  white  at  the  breaking  of  tlie 
day,  from  wdribighen,  it  is  white.  I  shall  give  a  fuller 
and  more  satisfactory  translation  of  the  word  Ahnahi 
in  the  progress  of  this  work. 

It  has  been  difficult  for  different  writers  to  deter- 
mine the  number  of  nations  or  tribes  comprehended 
under  this  word  Abnaki.  It  being  a  general  word, 
by  itself  designates  the  people  of  the  east  or  north- 
east. We  follow  the  most  of  the  authors  who  have 
treated  this  subject,  to  embrace  under  this  name  all 
the  tribes  of  the  Algic  family  who  occupy,  or  have 
occupied  the  east  or  north-east  shore  of  North  Ame- 
rica ;  thus,  all  the  Indians  of  the  sea  shores,  from 
Virginia  to  Kova  Scotia,  were  Ahnaki.^  We  include 
also  the  aborigines  of  Newfoundland,  and  of  the 
northern  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  as  far  as 
Labrador,  because  they  also  belong  to  the  same  family. 

We  find  that  the  word  Ahnaki  was  applied  in 
general,  more  i»r  less,  to  all  the  Indians  of  the  East, 
by  persons  who  were  not  much  acquainted  with  the 
aborigines  of  the  country.  On  the  contrary,  the 
early  writers,  and  others  well  acquainted  with  the 
natives  of  New  France  and  Acadia,  and  the  Indians 
themselves,  by  Ahnakis  always  pointed  out  a  particu- 
lar nation  existing  north-west  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Kennebec  river,  and  they  n-ver  designated  any 
other  people  of  the  Atlantic  shore,  from  Cape  Hat- 
teras  to  Newfoundland. 
. . ■» 

*  See  Encycl.  Aiuer.  vol.  vi. 


I 


t< 
tl 


/ 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


21 


In  an  ancient  map  published  in  1660,  in  the  his- 
tory of  Canada,  written  by  Rev.  Father  Du  Creux, 
the  Ahnahis  (Abnaquioii)  are  located  between  the 
Kennebec  (Kinibekius  fluvius)  and  Lake  Champlain 
(Lacus  Champlenius),  occupying  the  headwaters  of 
the  JTennebec,  of  the  Androscoggin  (fluvius  Amirga- 
canius),  of  the  Saco  (Choacatius  fluvius),  and  of 
another  river  marked  in  the  map  without  name, 
which  is,  perhaps,  the  JPresumpscot  river.  The 
same  author  does  not  put  any  other  nation  north  of 
New  England,  except  the  Mchimins  (Etecheminii) 
north  and  east  of  the  Penobscot  river  (Pentegoitius 
flumen),  and  the  Souriquois  (Soricoi)  in  Kew  Bruns- 
wick and  Nova  Scotia  {Acadia).  No  other  nation  is 
marked  in  New  England  (Nova  Anglia),  except  the 
two  following.  The  Sokoquis  (Soquoquioii)  between 
Boston  (Bostonium  Londini),  Plymouth  (Plimutium), 
Cape  Cod  (Promontorium  Malabarreum),  and  the 
Connecticut  river.  The  other  nation  is  that  of  the 
Mohegans  (Natio  Luporumy,' between  the  Connecti- 
cut river  and  the  North  river  (fluvius  borealis  sen 
merau).  These  are  all  the  nations  which  occupied 
the  area  of  New  England  and  Acadia  in  1660. 
Every  nation,  no  doubt,  was  subdivided  into  dif- 
ferent tribes. 

This  is  confirmed  by  Father  Bressani,  Father 
Basics,  and  other  early  missionaries,  who  spent  a 
great  number  of  years  amongst  the  Indians,  whose 
language  and  manners  they  possessed  to  some  per- 
fection. The  different  names  given  to  nations  located 
in  New  England  and  Acadia  were  generally  from 
strangers.    Tlie  number  of  tribes  has  been  either  too 


\ 


.f 


1 


I 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


much  exaggerated  or  over  reckoned.  The  same 
tribe  may  have  been  counted  several  times  nnder 
different  names,  according  to  the  various  residences  in 
which  a  tribe,  or  a  part  of  it,  had  encamped  for  some 
war,  hunting,  or  fishing  party.  These  names  were 
generally  taken  from  some  river,  pond,  etc.,  in  whose 
vicinity  they  had  pitched  their  camps.  This  must 
have  been  the  cause  of  much  confusion.  We  say  at 
present  the  Penobscot,  the  Passamaquoddy,  the  Old- 
town,  the  Pleasant  Point,  the  Calais,  the  Louis 
Island,  the  Moosehead  Lake,  the  Lincoln,  the  Matti- 
nacook,  the  Passadumkeag,  the  Ollemon  Indians,  yet 
they  are  only  one  nation,  the  Mchimis,  divided  in 
two  small  tribes,  the  Penobscot  and  Passamaquoddy* 
This  might  have  been  the  case  in  ancient  times. 
Only  five  nations  are  reckoned  in  New  England  and 
Acadia,  namely,  the  Mohegans,  the  Sokoquis,  the 
Abnakis,  the  Etchimis,  and  the  Micmacs, 

La  Hontan  confirms  it  by  putting  the  same  nations 
and  no  others.*  He  mentions  the  Qpencmgos,  who 
are  the  Penobscots,t  and  I  would  rather  believe 
them  to  be  the  Abnakis,  by  spelling  the  word  dif^ 
ferently,  and  the  Oanihasy  who  are  the  same  Ahna- 
Ms  called  by  the  French  Oanibas^  or  Kanihals^  from 
the  Kennebec  river.ij:  La  Hontan,  however,  is  inac- 
curate in  locating  them  all  in  the  ancient  Acadia. 
This  error  is  not  uncommon  to  old  writers  not  well 
acquainted  with  geography.     Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards 

*  Transactions  of  the  Hist  and  Lit.  Cora,  of  the  Amer.  Fhilos.  Soc. 
of  Philad ,  V.  i.  p.  107. 

f  Father  Demilier's  manuscripts. 

X  Father  Rasles'  Let.    Lettres  odif.,  vol.  vi. 


•'PP!'H«P«l*"W 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


23 


( 


does  not  mention  any  other  tribe  in  New  England,"* 
and  he  falls  into  error  of  geography  in  locating  the 
Penobscots  in  Nova  bco^ia.  Th?,  classification  of 
Gookinf  may  be  reduced  to  the  following:  The 
Pequods  are  the  Mohegan  nation — the  Narragan- 
setts  and  the  Massachusetts  must  be  the  Sohoquis. 
The  PawJcunnawkuts  or  Wampanoags  are  the  Ahna- 
kis^  and  under  this  name  he  comprehends  also  the 
Etchimis  and  Micmacs.  Father  Bressani  does  not 
mention  any  other  nation.  In  a  letter  written  by  a 
French  gentleman  to  a  Father  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,:]:  there  is  mention  of  the  Miomacs  and  Mare- 
schites  (the  Etchimis  being  called  also  Mareschites) 
in  Acadia.  On  the  St.  George  river,  which  divides 
New  France  from  New  England,  he  puts  the  Ahna- 
Tcis  and  Kanibas,  Towards  Quebec,  the  Papinachois, 
the  Sojqybenets^  the  Algonquins^  the  Iroquois,  the 
Hurons,  the  WoVces  and  Sohohis.  Of  these  only  the 
Wolves  and  Sohokis  are  in  New  England,  It  is  to 
be  remarked  that  the  Sokokis  are  put  near  the 
Wolves  and  not  near  the  Ahnakis,  just  as  they  are 
in  the  map  of  Father  Du  Creux.  Now  leaving  these 
tribes,  we  return  to  the  Ahnakis, 

The  Ahnakis  had  five  great  villages,!  two  amongst 
the  French  colonies,  which  must  be  the  village  of  St. 
Joseph  or  Sillery,  and  that  of  St,  Francis  de  Sales 


*  Observations  on  tho  Language  of  the  Muhhekaneen  Ind.,  with 
^otes  by  J.  Pickering, 
f  Transactions  of  the  Amer.  Antiq.  See.  at  Cambridge,  vol.  iv.  p.  33. 

X  The  travels  of  several  learned  missionaries  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
p.  316. 

§  Father  Rasles'  Let.     Lettres  Edif.,  vol.  vi.  p.  159, 
I  Shea :  Hist,  of  the  Catholic  Miss.,  p.  136-142. 


% 


;  I 

•  ff 


24 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


both  in  Canada,  three  on  the  head  waters,  or  along 
three  rivers,  between  Acadia  and  New  England. 
These  three  rivers  are  the  Kennebec,*  the  Androscog- 
gin,f  and  the  Saco,:j:  as  it  appears  from  the  map  of 
Father  Du  Creux,  and  from  the  words  of  Father 
Hasles,  who  says  that  these  three  rivers  enter  into  the 
sea  south  of  Canada,  between  New  England  and  Aca- 
dia.§  The  names  of  these  villages  must  be  those 
given  by  Father  Easles  in  his  dictionary,]  namely, 
NanrmiUwak  (where  the  river  falls  again),  Anmes- 
sukkantti  (where  there  is  an  abundance  of  large  fish), 
Pdnnawanbshek  (it  forks  on  the  white  rocks).  These 
three  villages  are  those  of  this  State.  The  names  of 
the  two  Abnaki  villages  of  Canada  are  Nessawor 
hamighe  (where  the  river  is  barricaded  with  osier  to 
fish,  or  where  the  fish  is  dried  by  smoke),  and  it  is 
the  present  village  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales.  The 
other  Canadian  Abnaki  village  is  St.  Joseph  or  Sil- 
lery,  called  formerly  by  the  Indians  Kamishwawdn- 
gachit  (where  they  catch  salmon  with  the  8pear).Tf 

*  Kennebec  means  Long  water.  It  denotes  a  stream  coming  from 
the  Long-water,  the  long  ponds  in  Winthrop. 

f  Androscoggin  means  Andros  coming.  Andros  is  the  name  of  a 
Governor  of  Maine ;  coggin  is  an  Indian  word,  and  it  means  coming. 
Andros,  or  a  family  of  that  name,  must  have  settled  near  that  river. 
The  same  river  is  also  called  Ammoscoggin,  and  it  means  Jish  coming 
in  the  spring. 

X  Its  original  name  was  Almtichicoit,  corrupted  in  Chacoit,  and  af- 
terwards in  Saco.  It  means  the  land  of  the  little  dog.  The  river  took 
its  name  from  the  Sagamore  of  the  tribe  of  that  name,  who  was  also 
called  Almuchicois,  or  Almushiquois,  residing  on  the  Saco  river. 

§  Lettres  Edif ,  vol.  vi.  p.  104. 

I  Abnakis'  diet, p.  544.  J'ather Bigot's  letters.  See Les  Voeux des 
Hui'ons  et  des  Abnaquis.     Cliartres,  1854. 

Tf  Notes  on  Father  Bressani's  Relation,  p.  329. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

THE   ABNAKIS   OI^IGINAL   PEOPLE, 

JIE  Abnakis  bear  evident  marks  of  an  ori^ 
ginal  people  in  name,  manners,  and  lan- 
guage. Tliey  show  a  civilization  which 
must  be  the  effect  of  antiquity  and  of  a  past  flou- 
rishing age.  The  origin  and  meaning  of  the  word 
Ahnaki  has  been  always  the  subject  of  investi- 
gation amongst  historians  and  philologists.  It  seems 
that  they  were  satisfied  in  finding  that  it  meant  peo- 
j[)le  of  the  easty  without  inquiring  further  into  the 
analysis  of  the  word.  Rev.  John  Heckewelder  spells 
it  Wapanachk^"^  saying  that  the  French  had  soft- 
ened it  to  suit  the  analogy  of  their  own  tongue ;  yet 
he  does  not  give  the  pronunciation  of  the  word  to  see 
in  what  the  French  did  soften  it.     WilHamson,f  in. 

*  Transactions  of  the  Hist,  and  Pliilos.  Soc.  of  Phila.,  vol.  i.  p.  109. 
•j-  Hist,  of  Maine,  vol.  i.  p.  403. 


i\ 


■  i 


' 


h:' 


THE  ABNAKIS :   AND  THEIR  flISTORY. 

a  note,  gives  the  authority  of  Kendall,  who  resolves 
it  into  wdbamo  or  wdbemo  (light,  east)  and  aski  (land), 
from  which  it  follows  that  ch  in  Waj^anachki  was 
soft,  hence  there  was  no  need  for  the  French  to 
soften  it,  it  being  French  to  pronounce  ch  soft  like  sh. 
This  word  then  would  have  been  Ahnasqtce — very 
appropriate  for  the  French  pronunciation.  M'oreover, 
in  the  comparative  vocabulary  of  fifty-three  nations, 
published  in  the  ArchcBologia  Americmia  by  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society  at  "Worcester,*  in  no 
language  the  word  aski  means  land,  except  in  that  of 
the  ITnistinaux  Indians  ;  but  light  in  that  same  lan- 
guage is  kisigostagoOy  and  not  wabamo.  If  it  comes 
from  wahisca  or  wapishkawc  (white),  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  make  wapanachki  out  of  those  two  KnisUnaux 
words.  Then  it  remains  to  be  proved  when  and  how 
the  KnisUnaux  Indians  could  call  the  aborigines  of 
the  Kennebec  Eastlanders. 

It  is  certain  that  the  word  Abnaki  was  not 
that  by  which  the  na**ves  of  the  Kennebec  River 
called  themselves,  but  that  by  which  they  were 
called  by  others.  I  find  in  all  the  languages  of 
Acadia  and  New  England,  that  the  word  Abnaki, 
spelt  as  is  found  in  the  most  ancient  manr.script8,t 
Abanaquis,  Abnaqicois,  Wabanaki,  means  our  an- 
cients or  our  ancestors  of  the  east.  This  word 
is  to  be  resolved  into  wdnb-naghi.     TF^nJij:  means 

*  Transactions  of  the  Amer.  Antiq.  Soc,  vol.  ii. 

f  Father  Bressani's  notes  at  the  word  Abnaki.  , 

X  Wdnb  may  be  spelt  wdb,  then  the  a  must  have  a  strong  nasal  pro- 
nunciation, like  that  of  the  Portuguese  language  in  the  words  mao 
(hand),  AUemao  (German). 


~^0 


THE  AU^AKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


27 


white,  hence  wdribighen,  it  is  white  (the  breaking  of 
the  day),  and  wdnhdnhdn,  aurora  borealis.  All 
aiithore  agree  in  this  word,  yet  they  never  remarked 
tlie  meaning  of  naghi,  which  means  ancestors  in  all 
the  dialects  of  New  England  and  Acadia.  Father 
Hasles  says  that  neganni  areiidnhak  means  the  anci- 
ents of 'past  time,'*'  Oghan  in  Mohegan  meansya^A^r, 
to  which  adding  n  it  would  mean  our  f other 8,\ 
There  is  no  Sokoki  vocabulary  of  my  knowledge, 
but  if  the  Sokoki  language  be  the  Massachusetts, 
noosh  in  that  dialect  means  my  father.X  In  Micraac, 
nahan  has  the  signification  of  old^  ancient^  and  it 
was  also  the  meaning  at  an  earlier  time,  as  it  ap- 
pears from  the  manuscript  of  Father  Mainard. 
Nhani  in  the  Etchimi  tongue  means  our  ancients,% 
It  is  quite  natural  that  this  word  Ahndki  (our  ances- 
tors of  the  East)  should  have  been  given  by  other 
tribes,  and  not  by  themselves,  as  they  could  not  call 
themselves  with  that  word  before  it  had  been  given 
by  others.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  Abnakis  them- 
selves, who  never  called  themselves  by  that  name. 
It  seems  that  they  called  themselves  men.  The 
Abnaki  villages  were  called  by  them  in  general 
nardnhamigdok  epitdk  arenanhak^\  men  living  on 
the  high  shores  of  the  river.  I  speak  the  Abnaki 
language — nedarenandwl  (I  speak  man,  from  are- 
nanbe),    I  speak  the  Iroquois  language — nemehwa- 

*  Abnaki  Diet,  p.  384. 

f  ArchKo!  Amer.,  vol.  ii.,  and  Dr.  J.  Edwards'  observation. 

\  Transactions  of  the  Amer.  Antiq.  Soc,  vol.  ii. 

§  Father  Demalier's  MS.  Diet. 

\  Abnaki  Diet.,  p.  542. 


(!    K 


>•     -i  1 


iM 


!i"i 


28 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  MISTORY. 


n 


: 


andwl  (I  speak  mequa,  a  name  with  which  the  Mo- 
hawks were  called  by  the  Algonquins  living  on  the 
Atlantic  shores)."'^ 

We  are  aware  that  this  interpretation  of  the  word 
Ahnaki  at  first  may  appear  to  be  too  studied,  and 
rather  strained  to  give  a  forced  meaning,  in  order  to 
defend  an  opinion  which  may  be  false.  But  it  is  not 
so,  We  have  no  system  to  defend.  What  we  have 
asserted  is  nothing  else  but  the  result  of  long  and 
diligent  investigations,  which  for  many  years  we 
liave  made  on  the  different  dialects  of  the  Algonquin 
language,  of  consultations  held  with  Indians  of  dif- 
ferent tribes,  and  a  close  examination  of  printed 
works  and  manuscripts  treating  on  this  matter.  We 
have  no  other  view  except  to  draw  light  on  this  very 
obscure  subject,  which  we  consider  to  be  the  duty  of 
every  historian  and  antiquarian,  rather  than  to  adopt 
favorite  systems,  which  have  no  support  on  history 
and  truth;  and  we  are  ready  to  abandon  our  opi- 
nion on  the  word  Ahnahi  whenever  any  other 
person  will  give  a  better  translation,  and  throw 
iliustration  on  this  point.  For  many  years  we 
adopted  the  commonly  received  interpretation,  l^  ^t 
Abnaki  meant  men  of  the  East  /  it  was  satisfactory, 
and  appeared  to  be  natural.  Further  investigation 
on  the  Abnaki  language  generated  at  first  a  doubt 
in  our  mind  about  the  true  meaning  of  that  word. 
For  many  months  we  endeavored  to  defend  it  against 
what  appeared  to  show  that  it  was  not  its  real  trans- 
lation.   This  brought  us  into  deeper  consideration 


*  Transactions  of  tho  Am.  Ant.  Soc,  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 


TUB  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


29 


and  analysis  of  the  word  Abnahi,  till  wo  were  forced 
from  evidence  to  admit  that  the  word  Abnaki  does 
not  merely  mean  men  of  the  East^  hut  our  ancestors 
of  the  East  Here  we  submit  a  part  of  the  investi- 
gations which  brought  us  to  this  conclusion. 

It  is  granted  by  all  that  the  word  Abnaki  should 
be  wanbanaki,  or  wanbanaghi,  it  being  the  origi- 
nal word  in  the  Indian  language.  If  it  would  mean 
only  men  of  the  East,  it  should  have  been  Wanbaki 
and  not  wanbanaki.  The  syllable  na  is  radicul  in 
this  word,  and  not  a  grammatical  increment.  We 
lind  that  the  only  Delaware  tribe  could  make  wapa- 
naki  (people  of  the  morning),  that  is,  of  the  Aurora, 
East,  but  this  word  could  not  have  originated 
from  the  Delaware  tribes,  but  from  those  of  New 
England  and  Kew  York,  who  were  in  contact  with 
the  Abnaki,  and  in  reality  east  of  them ;  whereas 
they  were  not  east  of  the  Delaware  but  north  of 
them.  The  word  having  originated  in  Kew  Eng- 
land and  Kew  York,  spread  through  the  Southern 
tribes.  In  old  Algonquin  language  white  is  wabi, 
and  land  is  aquin  ^  hence  it  would  make  loaba- 
qidn,  wabakL  In  the  Kew  England  Indian  dialect, 
white  is  wompi^  and  land  okhi  ^  hence  it  would 
be  wanpohki.  In  ^N^arraganset,  white  is  wompesu, 
land  oki,  it  would  be  wombesoki.  In  the  other  dia- 
lects, as  Mohegan,  Long  Island,  etc^,  it  is  still  more 
unlike.  In  the  Abnaki  dialect,  wanbigken,  it  is 
white,  comes  from  the  roat  wanbi,  and  land  is  ki. 
Father  Rale,  in  his  dictionary,  gives  many  modifica- 
tions of  the  word  wanbighen,  in  which  the  syllable 
na  or  the  letter  n  never  enters.     This  and  other 


.<! 


'1    «1 


M 


I'l 


ii.,:<      I 


r : 


30 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


considerations  oblige  ns  to  resolve  the  word  wanha- 
naghi  in  wanh-naghi,  which  means,  our  ancestors  of 
the  East  {where  it  commences  to  he  white  of  tJie 
aurora). 

This  is  confirmed  by  tradition.  I  am  aware  that 
Ileckewelder's  narrative  is  looked  upon  with  some 
distrust  by  critics,  who  accuse  him  of  too  much  cre- 
dulity in  listening  to  and  believing  the  narrations  of 
the  Indians.  However,  this  accusation  has  not  yet 
beeit  satisfactorily  proved.  Ileckewelder,  in  the 
introduction  to  the  account  of  the  history,  manners, 
and  customs  of  the  Indian  nations,*  says  the  Lenni- 
Lenapis  are  acknowledged  by  near  forty  Indian 
tribes,  whom  he  calls  nations,  as  being  their  grand- 
fathers. Yet  by  perusing  the  text  of  Ileckewel- 
der with  attention,  it  is  not  the  Lenni-Lenapis  that 
were  called  grandfathers,  but  the  Abnakis.  This 
word  is  extended  by  him  to  the  Lenni-Lenapis, 
and  by  a  personal  preference,  he  concluded  that 
the  Lenni-Lenapis  were  the  grandfathers  of  the 
forty  nations ;  yet  from  the  text  it  is  clear  that 
they  were  the  Abnakis.  Ko  tribe  ever  called  the 
Lenni-Lenapis,  Abnakis,  but  if  sometimes  they  may 
have  been  called  so,  it  was  in  a  general  sense 
— extended  to  all  the  tribes  from  Virginia  to  New- 
foundland. I  cannot  see  how  Lenni-Lenapi  means 
original  men.  Lenapi  is  w.an,  and  it  is  the  same 
word  al/namhe  in  Al)na1ci.^;  If  Lenni  means  also ina^n^X 


25. 


Transactions  of  the  Hist,  and  Araer.  Philos.  Soc.  of  Phila.,  vol.  i.  p. 

f  John  Pickering's  notes  on  Father  Rusles'  Diet. 

X  Transactions  of  the  Amor.  Antiq.  Soc,  Cambridge,  vol  ii.  p.  308. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


31 


it  must  be  an  abbreviation  of  the  word  Lenapi^  and 
it  would  mean  man-man^  that  is,  7nan  hy  excellence^ 
and  not  original  man.  In  the  historical  account  of 
the  Indian  nations,*  in  relating  the  treachery  of  the 
Mengwe  Indians  against  the  Lenni-Lenapis,  Rev.  J. 
Heckewelder  seems  to  explain  what  the  Indians 
meant  for  pure  man.  He  relates  how  the  Lenni-Lena- 
pis did  not  consider  the  Mengwe  Indians  as  a  pure 
race,  or  as  rational  beings,  but  as  a  mixturef  of  the 
human  and  brutal  kinds.  Father  Rasles,  who  had 
been  a  missionary  amongst  the  Illinois,  relates,  that 
to  be  a  real  man,  true  man,  amongst  the  Indians, 
means  to  be  a  great  hunter,  or  a  great  warrior.f 

It  is  true  the  Indians  have  given  the  name  of 
father,  grandfather,  uncle,  etc.,  to  several  persons 
only  for  compliment,  yet  it  was  through  respect  and 
acknowledgment  of  a  superiority.  Hence  we  have 
to  admit,  that  if  it  was  through  mere  compliment 
that  those  forty  nations  called  the  Abnakis  their 
grandfathers,  they  acknowledged  in  them,  at  least, 
some  preference  and  superiority. 

We  have  a  regular  nomenclature  of  degrees  of 
relationship  amongst  them.  The  Delaware  Indians 
call  the  Wyandots  (the  Hurons)  their  uncles  \X  and 
we  know  that  the  Hurons  are,  more  than  any  other 
nation,  like  the  Abnakis,  in  mannerT  and  language. 
The  Lenapis  call  the  Mohegans  their  grandchildren  ;§ 

♦  Philad.  Pliilos.  Trans.,  vol.  i.  p.  37. 
f  Lettres  Edif.,  vol.  vi.  p.  144. 

\  Narrntivo  of  tho  Mission  of  the  United  Brethren  by  Rev.  J. 
Heckewelder,  p.  115. 

§  Williamson's  Hist,  of  Maine,  vol.  i.  p.  455. 


si. 

» r 

m 


[ 


i  i 


82 


THE   ABNAKIS:    AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


t  ■      i 


the  Shawanoes  and  Mohegans  acknowledged  the 
Lenapis  their  grandfathers.  The  Shawanoes  call  the 
Mohegans  their  elder  brothers,  and  the  latter  call  the 
former  their  young  brothers.*  Hence  it  appears 
that  both  Mohegans  and  Shaioanoes  were  descendants 
of  the  Lenapis^  and  that  the  Lenajpis  being  nephews 
to  the  Hurons^  they  were  not  original  people,  but 
they  recognized  some  common  ancestors  with  the 
Hurons.  "We  find  these  common  ancestors  to  be  the 
Abnakis.  The  Abnakis  never  acknowledged  any 
ancestral  tribe,  w^hich  is  a  proof  of  their  antiquity. 
An  early  Abnaki  missionary,  giving  the  cosmogony 
of  that  tribe,  says  they  claim  to  have  been  created 
where  they  were,  and  that  the  Great  Spirit,  having 
made  them  and  their  land  as  a  chef  cfceuvre^  made 
the  rest  carelessly. f 

Having  observed  how  the  name  and  tradition 
show  that  the  Abnakis  are  an  original  people,  let  us 
consider  a  few  more  remarks  drawn  from  tJieir  man- 
ners and  hmguage,  lo  prove  the  same  subject. 

One  of  the  characters  of  the  Algic  family  is  to  be 
errant  and  roving  in  the  woods.  The  Hur  jns  had 
some  fixed  villages,  yet  they  were  not  described  to 
be  of  that  order  and  neatness  as  those  of  the  Abna- 
kis4  The  mound  existing  on  the  Kennebec  River 
of  Maine  proves  that  only  the  Abnakis  had  villages 
of  some  consideration.  Ko  other  mound  of  any  ele- 
vation can  be  found  in  New  England,  with  the 
exception  of  some  vestiges  of  enclosures  at  Sanborn- 

*  Philad.  Philos.  Transactions,  vol.  i.  p.  69. 

f  John  G.  Shea :  Letter. 

X  Father  Bressani'a  Relation  abr..  p.  C6. 


\ 


e 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


33 


ton  and  near  Concord,  "New  Ilampsliire.'*  Father 
Rasles  mentions  three  considerable  vi41ages  in  the 
State  of  Maine,t  besides  the  two  amongst  the  French 
colonies.  In  the  one  at  Norridgewock,  he  says  the 
cottages  were  distributed  with  an  order  very  near 
like  the  houses  in  the  cities.  This  village  was  sur- 
roimded  by  a  kind  of  wall  of  poles  or  stakes,  high 
and  so  thick  as  to  protect  them  against  the  incursions 
of  the  enemies.  The  cottages,  although  built  of 
poles  and  covered  with  large  bark,  yet*Vvere  elegant 
and  convenient.  Their  dress  was  modest,  and  orna- 
mented with  a  great  variety  of  rings,  necklaces, 
bracelets,  belts,  etc.,  made  out  of  shells  and  stones, 
worked  with  great  skill.  It  was  not  so  with  the 
other  surrounding  tribes  of  the  Algic  family  ;  they 
were  negligent  in  their  dress  or  entirely  naked. 
Although  at  seasons  they  went  hunting  the  wild  ani- 
mals of  the  forests,  and  fishing  on  their  numerous 
lakes  and  rivers,  yet  this  was  not  the  only  method 
on  which  they  depended  for  acquiring  the  necessa- 
ries of  life.  They  j»ractised  also  agriculture.  Their 
fields  of  shamunar  (corn)  were  very  -luxuriant.  As 
soon  as  the  snows  had  disappeared,  they  prepared 
the  land  with  great  care,  and  at  the  commencement 
of  June  they  planted  the  corn,  by  making  holes  with 
the  fingers  or  with  a  stick,  and  having  dropped  eight 
or  nine  grains  of  corn,  they  covered  them  with  earth. 
Their  harvest  was  at  the  end  of  August. 

♦  Samuel  F.  Haven:  Archseology  of  the  U.  S.,  p.  163. 
f  Lettrea  Edi£,  vol  vi. 

8 


' 


I'  ii 


k 


--^,,--y 


....«:"■ 


ciiAPTEE  y. 

MANNERS  AND  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  ABNAKIS* 

^HE  Abnakis  had  an  aiiienity  of  manners  and  a 
docility,  which  distinguished  them  by  far  from 
the  other  Algonquin  tribes,  which  cannot  but 
be  the  effect  of  education.  Their  morals  were  pure, 
and  they  have  never  been  charged  with  any  kind  of 
cruelty,  even  in  time  of  war.  "When  Father  Druil- 
lettes*  proposed  them,  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
baptism,  that  they  should  first  give  up  intoxicating 
liquors,  live  in  peace  with  their  neighbors,  and  aban- 
don their  medicine  bags,  drums,  and  other  superstitious 
objects,  they  all  agreed  without  difficulty.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  find  that  this  was  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  which  missionaries  encountered  in  planting 
the  gospel  amongst  the  other  tribes.     We  know  the 


s 


\i 


'I 


CD 


'-i 
O 
Zr. 

o 


r>- 


< 


*  Shea:  Cath.  Miss.,  p.  ISO. 


c--< 


a 


of 


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in- 

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11 


# 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEtR  SISTORY. 


S5 


troubles,  dangers,  and  persecutions  which  Fathers 
Marquette,  Brebeuf,  and  others  endured  from  the 
medicine  men  of  those  tribes  to  which  they  preached 
the  gospel.    Their  affection  for  their  children  was 
very  striking.     Soon   after  their  birth,   they  were 
Wrapped  in  a  bearskin ^  and  they  were  raised  with 
much  care,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  walk, 
tliey  were  taught  how  to  manage  the    bow  and 
arrows.    They  were  remarkably  hospitable,  and  their 
attachment  to  the  family  was  such  as  we  do  not  read 
of  in  other  tribes  of  the  Algic  family.     Their  cou- 
rage and  valor  as  warriors,  even  against  European 
troops,  were  unsurpassed.     Twenty  Abnakis  once 
entered  an  English  trading-house,  either  to  rest  or  to 
traffic,  when  they  were  surrounded  by  two  Imndred 
British  soldiers,  to  capture  them,  when  one  Abnaki 
gave  the  alarm  of  war,  crying,  "  We  are  dead,  let  us 
sell  our  lives  dearly."    They  prepared  to  fall  upon 
the    British   soldiers,   who    had    great  difficulty  to 
pacify  tliem.*     Another  time,  daring  tlie  wars  be- 
tween England  and   France,   while   thirty  Abnaki 
warriors,  returning  from  a  military  expedition  against 
the   British,  were    asleep  at  night,  they  were  sur- 
prised   by   a  party  of  British  soldiers,  headed   by 
a  colonel,  who  had  been   on  their  track.     The  sol- 
diers, six   hundred   in    number,   surrounded   them, 
certain   of   their  capture,  when  an  Abnaki  awoke 
and  cried  to  the  others,  *'  We  are  dead,  let  ua  sell 
our  lives  dearly."      They  arose   instantly,   formed 
six  divisions  of  five  men  each,  and  with  ilw  toma- 
hawk in  one  hand  and  a  knife  in  the  other,  they  fell 

*  Lettres  Edif.,  vol.  vi. 


I 


tw 


i: 


i   :-i: 


36 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTOP.Y. 


upon  the  Biitisli  soldiers  with  snch  force  and  impetu- 
osity, that  they  killed  sixty  soldiers,  including  the 
colonel,  and  dispersed  tlie  rest.  In  a  later  war 
between  England  and  France,  the  Abnakis  joined 
the  latter,  on  account  of  their  allegiance  to  this 
nation,  and  during  the  war,  they  spread  desolation 
in  every  part  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  English. 
They  ravaged  their  villages,  forts,  farms,  took  away 
a  large  quantity  of  cattle,  and  made  six  hundred 
prisoners.* 

Their  sentiments  and  principles  of  justice  had  no 
parallel  amongst  the  other  tribes.  We  never  read 
of  their  having  been  treacherous,  nor  wanting  in 
honor  or  conscience  in  fulfilling  their  word  given 
either  in  private  or  in  a  public  treaty.  We  have  a 
very  remarkable  example  of  the  fidelity  with  which 
they  retained  their  allegiance  to  France.f  In  the 
time  that  the  war  was  about  to  break  out  between 
the  European  countries,  the  British  governor,  lately 
arrived  at  Boston,  required  a  conference  with  the 
Abnaki  Indians,  to  be  held  on  an  island.  He  endea- 
vored to  induce  the  Abnakis  to  remain  neutral,  and 
to  let  the  French  and  English  settle  their  matter 
amongst  themselves,  who  were  equally  strong ;  and 
he  promised  to  furnish  the  Indians  with  everything 
they  wanted,  and  to  buy  their  peltry.  This  was  the 
great  answer  given  by  the  Indians,  after  a  consulta- 
tion lield  amongst  themselves,  and  delivered  by  one 
of  their  orators  : — 

"  Great  Captain,  you  say  to  us  not  to  join  our- 


f 


*  Lettres  Edif.,  vol.  vi. 


f  Ibid. 


M 


THE  .w^JTAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


37 


I 


selves  to  the  French,  supposing  that  you  are  going 
to  declare  war  against  him.  Let  it  be  known  to  you 
that  the  French  is  my  brother,  he  and  I  have  the 
same  prayer,  and  we  both  live  in  the  same  wigwam, 
at  two  fires — he  has  one  fire  and  I  the  other.  If  I 
see  3'ou  enter  the  wigwam  on  the  side  of  the.  fire 
w^here  the  French  my  brother  is  seated,  I  shall 
observe  you  from  my  mat  where  I  am  seated,  at  the 
other  fire.  In  observing  yon,  if  I  see  that  you  have 
a  tomahawk,  I  will  think  to  myself,  '  "What  does  the 
English  intend  to  do  with  that  tomahawk  ? '  I  will 
rise  from  my  mat  to  see  what  he  intends  to  do.  If 
he  raise  the  tomahawk  to  strike  the  French  my  bro- 
ther, I  shall  take  my  tomahawk,  and  1  will  run  to 
the  English  and  strike  him.  Can  I  see  my  brother 
struck  in  my  own  wigwam,  and  I  remain  quiet, 
seated  upon  my  mat  ?  No,  no  !  I  love  my  brother 
too  much,  that  I  should  not  protect  him.  I  tell  you, 
Great  Captain,  do  nothing  against  my  brother,  and 
I  will  do  nothing  against  you  ;  stay  quiet  upon  your 
mat  and  I  will  stay  quiet  upon  mine."  I  could  bring 
other  proofs  of  the  noble  sentiments  of  this  nation, 
to  show  that  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  Abnakis 
were  not  savage  and  uncultivated,  like  many  of  the 
other  tribes  of  the  Algic  family,  but  they  were 
grand,  pure,  and  refined,  to  scorn  even  the  most 
civilized  nations  of  both  continents. 

A  primitive  language  in  a  state  of  infancy  is  mono- 
syllabic, like  the  Chinese  and  others  in  Asia,  but  the 
Indian  languages,  being  composed  of  words  formed 
by  an  agglutination  of  other  words,  or  parts  of  them, 
cannot  be  a  language  in  a  state  of  infancy.    How- 


\U  U 


88 


THE  ABNAKIS;  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


ever,  as  this  is  common  to  all  the  Indian  dialects,  it 
proves  nothing  in  this  case.  At  present  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  give  a  comparative  view  between  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Abnakis  and  those  of  the  other  tribes, 
to  show  the  superiority  and  cultivation  of  the  former 
above  the  latter.*  I  will  only  m  ke  some  remarks 
upon  two  points,  namely,  upon  a  traditional  superi- 
ority of  the  Abnaki  language,  and  upon  the  manner 
of  writing  it. 

Ba 'on  La  Hontau  f  puts  only  two  mother  lan- 
guages in  the  whole  extent  of  Canada ;  the  Huron 
and  the  Algonquin.  Speaking  of  the  Algonquin  Ian- 
guage,  he  asserts  that  it  was  a  language  very  much 
esteemed  amongst  the  savages,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  are  esteemed  in 
Europe,  From  this  it  follows  that  it  must  have  been 
a  cultiv,^ted  mother  language,  and,  as  it  were,  a  clasr 
sic  tongue  amongst  them.  In  the  transactions  of  the 
liistorical  and  literary  committee  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  of  Philadelphia,:!^  it  is  agreed 
that  what  the  Baron  La  Ilontan  remarked  of  this 
language  was  very  correct,  but  tliey  do  not  allow  to 
him  to  call  it  Algonquin,  but  they  want  it  to  be 
called  Abnaki,  that  is  to  say,  this  quality  of  being  a 
classic  language  belongs  to  the  Abnaki  nation,  and 
not  to  the  Algonquin,  which  is  a  small,  miserable, 
wandering  tribe.  lYe  fully  agree  with  this  remark 
of  the  learned  Society  of  PJiiladelphia,  and  espe- 
cially in  observing  that  La  Ilontan  puts  the  Abnakis 

*  The  autUor  is  preparing  a  comparative  dictionary  of  tlie  Abnaki 
dialec*^::,  in  three  volumes  in  folio. 

f  Vol.  i.  p.  109.  I  Ibid. 


4 


II 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


39 


at  the  liead  of  the  tribes  inhabiting  Nova  Scotia, 
whom  he  calls  also  Abnakis.  Rev.  J.  Ileckewelder, 
who  appears  to  be  the  author  of  these  remarks, 
reflects  further  *  that  La  Hontan  probably  did  not 
understand  sufficiently  the  Abnaki  language,  other- 
wise the  Indians  would  have  informed  him  that  they 
derived  their  origin  from  a  powerful  nation,  whom 
they  revered  as  their  grandfather.  I  know  that  Rev. 
J.  Heckewelder  alludes  to  the  Lenni-Lenapis,  but  I 
have  already  proved  how  the  Lenni-Lenapis  must  be 
referred  to  the  Abnakis,  because  the  Lenni-Lenapis 
were  not  Abnakis,  except  in  a  general  sense,  called 
so  only  by  authors  not  much  acquainted  with  the 
Abnakis. 

*  Phila.  Transactioos,  vol.  i.  p,  109. 


if 


r  ; 


I 


.!«    ', 


If 

■  '■''      1 


Hi: 


CHAPTER  YI. 


ABNAKI   HAND-WRITING, 


>T  has  been  an  object  of  research  amongst  the  anti- 
quarians to  find  -whether  the  aborigines  of  this 
continent  possessed  any  manner  of  writing. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvian?, 
it  has  been  denied.  All,  however,  agree  that  they  had 
a  kind  of  hieroglyphics,  or  rather  pictures,  with  some 
conventional  signs  to  transmit  an  event,  battle,  hunt- 
ing party,  etc.  The  celebrated  Dighton  rock,  the 
other  at  a  place  in  Connecticut,  called  by  the  Indi- 
ans Scaticook,  and  many  others  collected  by  Dr. 
H.  R.  Schoolcraft,''^  show  that  they  had  an  imperfect 
manner  of  engraving  pictures,  with  a  few  signs, 
which  could  not  be  reduced  to  a  regular  system  of 
writing  with  hieroglyphics,  like  the  people  of  Asia. 
Yet  it  was  because  tliey  were  not  familiar  enough 

*  Hist ,  Cond.,  and  Prosp.  of  the  Indian  Tribes. 


■Hi 


imm 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


41 


'J 

of 


-svith  the  Indians  of  the  Korth.  The  Abnakis  and 
neighboring  tribes  had  a  regnh\r  method  of  writing 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  and 
other  Asiatic  nations,  altliough  with  different  cha- 
racters. This  kind  of  writing  is  yet  used  amongst 
the  Micmacs,  and  I  am  surprised  that  no  writer  has 
yet  made  any  mention  of  this  manner  of  scripture. 

This  sj'stem  is  so  perfect  that  there  are  in  exist- 
ence three  regular  books,  one  containing  j^rayers, 
another  the  mass,  and  another  a  catechism ;  two  of 
these,  written  by  an  Indian,  are  in  my  possession. 
A  specimen  of  this  hand-writing,  with  the  English 
version,  is  appended  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  as 
also  some  parts  of  the  Abnaki  and  Micmac  lan- 
guages. It  reads  running  from  the  left  to  the  right. 
Old  lYidians,  however,  at  Oldtown,  informed  me  of 
having  seen  this  kind  of  books  written  by  running  in 
a  vertical  line  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  and,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken,  others  running  from  the  right  to 
the  left. 

I  close  the  present  subject  by  giving  a  short  his- 
tory of  this  manner  of  writing,  such  as  it  exists  by 
tradition  amongst  the  Indians,  confirmed  by  their 
missionaries,*  and  especially  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
Colin  Frs :  MacKinnon,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Arichat, 
a  native  of  Kova  Scotia,  and  a  scholar  of  great  talents 
and  high  education,  who  was  for  many  years  amongst 
the  Micmac  Indians. 

When  the  French  first  arrived  in  Acadia,  the 
Indians  used  to  write  on  bark,  trees,  and  stones, 
engraving    signs    with    arrows,    sharp    stones,    or 

*  Letter  of  Rev.  Christian  Kauder,  a  missionary  amongst  the  Micmacs. 

8* 


III 


\ 


jH« 


42 


THE  ABNAKJ.S:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


other  instruments.  They  were  accustomed  to 
send  pieces  of  bark,  marked  with  these  signs,  to 
other  Indians  of  other  tribes,  and  to  receive  back 
answers  written  in  the  same  manner,  just  as  we  do 
with  letters  and  notes.  Their  chiefs  used  to  send 
circulars,  made  in  the  same  manner,  to  all  their 
men  in  time  of  war  to  ask  their  advice  and  to  give 
directions.  Several  Indians  possessed  in  their  wig- 
wams a  kind  of  library  cc  uiposed  of  stones  and 
pieces  of  bark,  and  the  medicine  men  had  large 
manuscripts  of  these  peculiar  characters,  which  they 
read  over  the  sick  persons.  Inscriptions  of  this  kind 
were  made  by  Indians  on  standing  trees,  in  the 
woods,  to  inform  others  about  some  extraordinary 
event.  The  Indians  assert  \hat  by  these  signc  they 
could  express  any  idea  vith  every  modification,  just 
as  we  do  with  our  writings.  When  the  French  mis- 
sionaries arrived  in  tliat  country  (they  generally  refer 
to  Fathers  Mainard  and  Le  Loutre),  they  made  use  of 
these  signs,  as  they  found  tliem,  in  order  to  instruct 
the  Indians.  They  improved,  tiieni,  and  others  were 
added  in  order  to  express  tlie  doctnne  and  mysteries 
of  the  Christian  religion. 

This  kind  of  writing  does  not  exist,  nor  do  we 
know  that  it  has  existed  amongst  other  nations  of 
the  Algonquin  family.  All  the  researches  made  by 
missionaries  and  learned  antiquarians,  could  never 
find  any  of  these  characters  to  have  been  used  by 
other  Indians,  such  as  we  find  at  present  amongst 
the  Micmacs,  and  which  formerly  were  connnon 
amongst  all  the  Indians  of  Acadia  and  of  a  portion 
of  New  France.    The  Micmacs,  the  Montagnais,  the 


.'  u 


THE  LORD'S  PRAYKR  IN  MTCMAC  IIIEROGLYnilCS. 


d  by 


i^l/f^ 


} 


cbin 

sciitcd 


Ichiptook 
may 


(li'lwiLrin 
thy  name 


nnshincn       Wnjok 
Our  Father  in  heaven 

nth     ¥    ff|~    I 

moE^irnlcdomoli     Wajok         n'telidancn  tchiptook       igncmwiek  ula 

be  respected      ia  heaven         to  lu  may  ;.'rant  tbco 


?J. 


nomulek  iiledechincn.      Natel        wajok 

to  see  ill  staying.      There      ia  heaven 


deli  chkedoolk 

as         thou  art  obeyed 


}      I     I 

tchiptook  deli 
may         60  bo 


1    lol      GD      g=a 


clikodiilck 
obeyed 


niakimi.OTek  eiinck 

ou  earlh  where  wo  aro 


T)elaniukul)eni'_'iKd  ooliemio.i.'iU'l  apeli        iie^iuch      kiclikodk 

As  thiiii  iiast  given  il  tn  us  in  tiie  same  maancr    also  now  to-day 


^ci-^^Al    tZ},%     lr2. 


delamoiditecli  pc-ncgminenwin      niluncn;        deli  aliikcliiktakachik 

give  it  our  notiriiliuient       tuns;  wc  r«»iu'ive  tlmso 


Et  ^l   J>  ^    I  t\. 


^TT-O 


Tre:;ain-itmnictiiik      dp    Ud    ni\kam 
who  have  otlvnded  us   so    tli'iu    O  (u>d 


!ibil;cliikl\vin  clwoultick 

for,'ivc  our  faults 


II 


£e 


mclkpninvoch  winnchudil 

liold  us  ^troiiLj         l)v  tlie  ii:iti(l 


^^       n-^^J     £cn( 

mil  k"ty^;tl!iien       koirinnkamkel 

iii)t  t"  f.il!  kcrp  far  frum  n3 


i^;^  311  hW  2:z 


winnchiirnol 
Buil'eriags 


twaktwln. 

cviU 


KMeli.lcIi. 
Aincu. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY, 


43 


Ltchimis,  and  the  Abnakis  melt  in  one  same  nation 
and  language;  and  these  must  be  the  tribes  that, 
according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Micmacs,  kept  cor- 
respondence amongst  themselves  by  this  kind  of 
hand-writing.  A  few  of  these  hieroglyphics  can  yet 
be  seen  amongst  the  writings  of  Father  Rasles, 
which  is  a  confirmation  of  what  I  assert.  The  Abna- 
kis  have  disappeared,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
left  in  Canada,  The  Etchimis  are  vanishing  away 
very  rapidly.  The  Montagnais  are  in  the  same 
condition.  The  Micmacs  are  at  present  the  only 
standing  nation  that  can  represent  the  red  man  of 
the  northeast ;  hence  no  wonder  that  we  find  the 
remains  of  this  manner  of  writing,  preserved  espe- 
cially by  the  care  of  their  missionaries,  I  hope  that 
this  system  of  hand-writing  will  not  be  suffered  to 
be  buried  in  silence  amongst  the  ruins  of  time,  but 
that  the  memory  of  this  kind  of  scripture  sliall  be 
transmitted  to  future  ages,' to  show  the  antiquity  and 
education  of  the  noble  and  gentle,  but  ill-fated 
Abnaki.* 

•  Since  we  wrote  this,  a  prayer-book  in  the  Micmao  hieroglyphics 
l^aa  been  published  by  the  learned  Rev.  Christian  Kauder— a  zealous 
and  indefi^tigable  missionary  among  the  Micmacs  of  Nova  Scotia. 


I  ! 


II' 


*»'""'"SW 


CHAPTEll  VII. 

ACADIA — ANALYSIS  AND  MEANING  OF  THE  WORD — ITS 
LIMITS  AND  ABORIGINES  OF  ACADIA — REMARKS  ON 
AGGUNOIA,  THE  ORIGINAL  NAME  OF  THE  TENOBSCOT 
RIVER. 

EFORE  entering  into  the  description  of  the 
aborigines  of  that  part  of  Nortli  America  for- 
merly known  under  the  name  of  Acadia,  it 
seems  proper  to  lay  down  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to 
its  name  and  boundaries.  The  word  Acadia^  written 
sometimes  La  Cadie  and  Acadie,  is  Indian.  The  origii 
of  tliis  word,  and  its  meaning,  has  always  been  a  sub- 
ject of  investigation  among  the  antiquarians,  who 
generally  admit  it  to  be  an  Indian  word,  though  they 


I 

I 


I 


IN 


nacgr 


Pt' 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


45 


do  not  fix  its  meaning.  Some  of  them  have  ventured 
interpretations,  which,  however,  they  abandoned  after 
further  consideration.  I  was  at  one  time  led  to  resolve 
Acadie  into  the  two  Abnaki  words  Ahi-adie  (land  of 
dogs).  Yet,  after  more  recent  investigation,  I  con- 
sider it  more  natural  to  trace  it  to  the  Micmac  word 
academ  (we  dwell),  or  tedlacadem  (where  we  dwell), 
that  is,  our  village.  We  have  yet  in  [N'ova  Scotia  a 
place  called  Tracadie,  which  must  be  the  Indian 
word  tedlacadem^  or  fdlacadem^  where  we  dwell, 
and  perhaps  it  is  the  original  word  of  Acadie.  The 
principal  river  in  ^ova  Scotia  is  called  Shiiben-aca- 
die,  river  where  we  dwell,  or  village-river. 

The  limits  of  Acadia  are  not  clearly  established, 
and  they  vary  according  to  different  writers.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  Acadia  was  divided  in  four 
parts,  and  it  had  four  distinct  proprietors.^  The 
Jlrst  part  was  from  the  Penobscot  river  in  Maine  to 
the  ^i^.  JohvbS  river  in  New  Brunswick,  and  it  was 
called  by  the  French  the  Province  of  the  Etohemins, 
but  its  former  name  was  Nohinibeka  (succession  of 
falls  and  still-water),  the  Indian  name  for  the  Penob- 
scot river,  or  rather  for  some  parts  of  it.  A  part  of 
it  had  also  been  named  New  Ireland,  from  the  first 
settlers,  who  were  Irish.  The  second  was  from  the 
St.  JohrCs  river  to  Ca^e  Sable,  and  it  was  called  by 
the  French  Baye  Franqaise.  This  bay  at  present  is 
called  Buy  of  Fundy{^o^\w2ixwvc\,  bay  of  the  mines). 
The  third  from  Cajpe  Sable  to  Canzeaux  (Canse,  the 
name  of  a  French  navigator),  and  it  was  called  Aca- 

*  Charlevoix,  liv.  iiL 


n 


■[■I 


I 


46 


THE   ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


dia  by  the  French,*  Kova  Scotia  by  the  English. 
The  fourth  from  Canzeaux  to  Cap  des  Hosiers 
(from  a  fish  of  that  name,  phoxinas  squamosus,  or  as 
others  assert,  from  the  French  navigator  Eosier), 
and  it  was  called  Gaspesie^  from  the  Indian  name 
Gachepe  or  KecKpi  (the  end),  very  appropriately  to 
signify  the  extreme  North-east  end  of  the  Micmac 
territory,  and  the  last  promontory  lying  between 
the  mouth  of  the  great  St.  Lawrence  river  and  the 
Bay  of  Chaleurs-t 

All  this  vast  extension  of  territory  was  possessed 
only  by  two  Indip^n  nations,  the  Etchimins  and  the 
Micmacs.  The  Ji^kiimns  occupied  the  waters  of 
the  Penobscot^  St  Groix^  and  St,  JoKrCs  rivers,  and 
the  most  part  of  both  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Fn  ndy  as 
far  east  as  Port  Royal^  near  Annapolis,  The  Mic- 
macs  dwelt  on  the  rest  of  No /a  Scotia,  on  the  south» 
eastern  part  of  New  Brunswick,  on  the  southern 
shore  of  the  mouth  and  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence,  and 
also  on  the  adjoining  islands.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
Newfoundland  was  inhabited,  It  is,  however,  cer^ 
tain  that  its  northern  part  was  frequented  by  the 
Esquimaux  ;  the  western  and  southern  parts  by  the 
Micmacs.  There  is,  however,  good  ground  to  believe 
that  it  was  settled  by  the  Micmacs.  Maps  are  found 
in  which  Micmac  settlements  are  marked  north-west 
of  Fortune  Bay.  Jt  is  asserted  that  in  the  interior 
of  Newfoundland  there  existed  a  tribe  of  Aborigines 
who  shunned  all  intercourse  with  the  Europeans, 

*  That  is,  the  Indian  word  Acadia  was  applied  by  the  French  to 
that  part  of  the  country, 
f  If  Gaspesie  comes  from  Kespaase,  it  means  smoked  food,  v.  g.  fish. 


THE  ABNArJS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


47 


I 


and  who  are  supposed  to  have  perished  of  starva- 
tion. In  the  early  part  of  this  century,  five  or  six 
Indians  came  in  one  of  the  settlements  in  extreme 
want,  who  were  said  to  be  the  only  remnant  of  the 
race.  They  represented  that  they,  with  their  breth- 
ren, had  been  forced  by  the  severity  of  the  winter 
and  depth  of  the  snow  to  abandon  the  camp  for  want 
of  food,  hoping  to  be  able  to  reach  the  shore,  but  they 
had  perished  in  the  way.  Two  of  this  remnant  only 
lived  to  reach  St.  John's,  where  the  last  died  in  1828. 
But  I  have  been  informed  by  some  missionaries  of 
the  French  islands  St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  that  in 
former  times,  nearly  every  spring,  canoes  were  ob- 
served coming  from  the  shores  of  Newfoundland, 
and  many  dead  were  buried  on  the  French  islands. 
This  happened  because  the  Indians  of  Newfoundland 
being  Catholic,  refused  to  bury  their  dead  on  Eng- 
lish territory,  which  was  Protestant,  but  they  carried 
them  to  be  interred  in  French  land,  because  it  was 
Catholic.  It  is  asserted'^  that  there  existed  a  very 
harmless  tribe  of  Aborigines,  to  whom  the  Euro- 
peans gave  the  name  of  red  men,  but  who  called 
themselves  Beoths,  and  that  they  were  different  from 
the  rest  of  the  North  American  Indians.  They  must 
have  been  the  Esquimaux,  and  by  Beoths  the  Esqui- 
maux Indians  must  not  have  meant  themselves,  but 
the  Micmacs,  who  also  lived  on  the  same  island. 
Baatu  in  some  of  the  Esquimatiic  dialects  means 
canoe,  and  we  know  that  the  Mic7na^s  were  called 
canoe-men.     If  we  can  rely  on  the  assertion-)-  that 

*  Encyclopaedia  Americana,  v.  ix. 

•j-  Transactions  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society. 


i% 


!1 


'I 


48 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR   HISTORY. 


1 


in  the  country  called  Vmland,  settled  by  an  Ice- 
landisli  colony,  the  sun  remained  eight  hours  visible 
during  the  shortest  day  of  the  year,  that  country 
must  have  been  Newfoundland.  It  is  positively 
asserted,  that  there  existed  Indians  who,  from  their 
description  and  name,  Shrocllings^  given  them  by 
the  Normans,  and  which  in  the  Icelandic  language 
means  dwarfs^  must  have  been  the  Esquimaux. 

The  origin  of  the  word  Etcldmin  is  Indian,  and  it 
means  men  from  tcldncin^  man.  To  describe  the 
JEtchimins  by  tribes,  would  be  a  fruitless  attempt, 
as  we  have  no  certain  records  of  them,  and  it  would 
scarcely  throw  any  necessary  light  on  their  history. 
But  we  have  historical  documents  that  they  had 
three  principal  settlements  on  the  three  largest 
rivers,  the  Penobscot,  the  St.  Croix,  and  the  St. 
JohrCs. 

The  first  Etchimin  settlement  was  on  the  river 
Penobscot,  or  rather  Penaubshet,  which  means,  it 
flows  on  rod's — a  characteristic  very  well  appropri- 
ated to  that  river,  on  account  of  its  shallowness 
and  the  many  rocks  on  which  it  runs.  In  dry  sea- 
sons I  have  known  the  w^aters  of  that  river  to  be 
so  low  that  I  could  hardly  go  from  Mattanacooli'^  to 
Oldtown  in  a  canoe.  Some  writers  have  been  of 
opinion  that  the  Penobscot  river  was  formerly  called 
Nolumbega,  and  Pentagwet,  or  Boamtuquaitook ; 
but  these  names  expressed  only  some  localities  of 
that  river.  Nolnnibega  means  a  still-water  between 
falls,  of  which  there  are  several  in  that  river.    At  dif- 

.    *  Mattanacook,  or  Martinacook,  is  an  island  in  the  Penobscot  river 
near  Lincoln.    The  name  means  long  and  high. 


WOBtSSSSSSSi 


THE  ABNAKIS  :   AND  THER  HISTORY. 


49 


ferent  times,  travelling  in  a  canoe  along  the  Penob- 
scot, I  have  heard  the  Indians  calling  those  localities 
Nolumhega,  Pentagwet,  or Boamtuquet means  hroad- 
icater,  and  it  expresses  a  locality  after  the  narrows 
of  Bucksport  up  towards  Bangor. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  historicial  de- 
scription of  these  Indians,  I, deem  proper  to  make  a 
brief  digression,  not  altogether  foreign  to  the  subject. 
I  wish  to  remark,  that  the  real  and  ancient  name  given 
by  the  aborigines  to  the  Penobscot  is  Agguncia^^  a 
w^ord  which  cannot  be  traced  to  any  language,  ex- 
cept to  the  Abnaki,  and  it  means  our  nephews^  from 
u^kkun  and  tsis.  This  leads  us  to  the  important  his- 
torical discovery  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Penob- 
scot river,  the  Etchimins^  were  descendants  of  the 
Ahnakis.  The  great  and  famous  Algio  family  de- 
rives its  name  from  the  river  Agguncia.  There  is 
no  diiRculty  to  explain  how  the  letter  I  is  found  in 
the  word  Algic  and  not  in  Agguncia.  The  root  of 
the  word  Jigguncia  is  tClcum^  vrith  an  aspiration  be- 
tween the  two  first  letters,  v^h.  This  aspiration  by 
some  tribes  is  sounded  with  a  kind  of  crash  in  the 
throat,  by  others  it  is  bounded  as  r,  by  otliers  it  is 
replaced  by  an  I.  We  have  innumerable  exam- 
ples of  this  rule  in  the  Indian  languages.  The 
change  of  the  u  in  a  is  grammatical.  Gr  and  h  being 
convertible  letters,  u^huncia  makes  Alguncia^  or 
Agguncia,  from  wdiich  the  word  Algonquin^  or  Algic, 
is  derived.  This  explains  why  the  whole  Algonquin 
nation  call  the  natives  of  the  Kennebec  river  Abna- 


^  , 


!! 


*  Pronounced  Agkuntchia. 


50 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


to,  that  is,  our  ancestors  of  the  East^*  because  the 
Algonquins  deriving  their  origin  from  the  Agguncia 
(the  Penobscot)  who  wore  nephews  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Kennebec,  they  naturally  call  these  Indians 
Abnakis,  that  is,  our  ancestors  of  the  East.  This  is 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  name  with  which  the 
Etchimins  call  the  Algonquins^  is  Ussaglien^  pi.  Us- 
8aghenick^\  our  nearest  ancestors,  because  they  im- 
mediately descended  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  Ag- 
guncia, who  were  the  first  Algonquins,  nephews  to 
.bnakis,  and  fathei'S  to  the  Etchimins.  These 
childreiioTThe  AiiliaJds,  and  fathers  of  the  Agguncia, 
must  have  been  the  AlnVaucMcois  on  the  Saco  river, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Androscoggin,  who  very 
probably  were  the  Amelingas,  One  of  tJle-^names 
of  the  Androscoggin  was  Amlngdnkin.  iNTow,  tl 
AhnaMs  never  called  the  Algonquins  by  the  name 
of  TJssaghenick,  our  nearest  am^cestors,  and  they  could 
not,  because  the  Algonquins  were  nephews  to  the 
AhnaJcis.  The  Abnakis  called  the  Algonquins  our 
nephews,  or  descendants.  Fr.  Kasles  informs  usj  that 
when  an  Abnaki  says,  I  speak  the  Algonquin  lan- 
guage, he  expresses  himself  thus :  nesangnanandwd,  I 
speak  the  language  of  our  nephews,  either  from  the 
root  u^kun,  nephews,  or  dankawinum,  desoetit.  The 
word  must  be  resolved  so,  ne-sangnan-nandwe  /  the 
first  syllable  ne,  and  the  two  last,  nandwe,  mean,  / 
speak;  and  sangnan  comes  either  from  u'kun,  nephew, 
or  dankawinum,  descent,  of  which  both  words  u'kum 

*  See  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Hist.  Society,  v,  vi.,  Abnakis. 
t  Fr.  Demilier,*  MS.  Dictionary.        X  Rasles'  Dictionary,  p.  499. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY, 


51 


is  always  the  root.  The  d  is  changed  into  8  for 
euphony's  sake.  In  the  same  manner  they  say  ne^ 
mekuandwd,  I  speak  Iroquois, 

This  solves  several  other  historical  questions.  It 
explains  why  the  Penobscot  Indians  were  called 
Taranteen8  ;  it  was  because  they  were  living  on  the 
Agguncia  river,  wl;ich  was  the  cradle  of  the  Algon^ 
quins,  who  were  called  A^dirontak^  eaters  of  trees^  by 
the  Iroquois,  to  ridicule  their  unskilfulness  in  hunt- 
ing. It  explains  why  the  Penobscot  dialect  is  so 
much  more  like  the  Algonquin  than  many  other 
dialects  of  the  same  nation  ;  they  bemg  more  nearly 
related  to  them  than  the  others,  excepting  the  Almou- 
chicois.  Finally,  it  explains  why  the  entire  Algio 
family  call  the  inhabitants  of  the  Kennebec  ^2>n«AjiV, 
our  ancestors  of  the  J^ast,  while  we  do  not  read  that 
the  Etchimins  and  Micmacs  were  narked  Ahnahisy 
although  living  east  of  the  Algonquins ;  at  least  not 
Ij^Hed  so  until  the  word  Abnakis  became  a  generic 
name,  aItd^-Qmployod  to  point  out  the  entire  Algio 
family, 


i 


■m 


■  A 


i- 


a 


'VA 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INDIAN  VILI.AOES  IN  ACADIA— ON  THE  PENOBSCOT — ON 
THE  ST.  CROIX,  AND  ON  ST.  JOIIn's  RIVERS — IN  THE 
REST   OF   NEW   BRUNSWICK ON   NOVA   SCOTIA. 

JIE  Indians  living  on  the  Penobscot  river  were 
called  Penobscot,  and  sometimes  Openangos, 
a  corruption  for  Abnakis.  The  principal  Pe- 
nobscot village  was,  as  I  learn  from  the  Indians,  about 
Mattaicanheaij-polnt  {a  har  of  (jravel  dicides  the  river 
hi  (wo^).    There  are  yet  remains  of  Indian  articles  to 

*  It  is  a  general  custom  \^ith  the  Indiana,  that  whenever  tliey  spoalc 
of  a  river,  or  describe  it,  they  always  allude  upward  to  the  orijjin,  and 
not  downward  to  its  mouth ;  v.  g.  they  say  tlio  river  forks,  when  two 
rivers  join  into  one. 


in 


_>• 


'y^. 


■yi 


>1 


C5 
?3 


.  i<i«p.iw..i^»iw»nn«i   II,    ■■-*!(■■  • 


\ 

\ 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


53 


be  found  in  that  locality.  There  was  a  graveyard,  and 
the  old  Indians  remember  yet  some  remains  of  the 
settlement.  Besides  the  present  village  at  Oldtown, 
it  is  difficult  to  trace  others  with  certainty.  We  are 
sure  that  there  was  no  Indian  village  at  Oastine, 
called  at  present  Bagaduce^  a  corruption  for  matchi- 
higtoadusek,  water  had  to  drink. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1863,  Mr.  W.  H.  Weeks, 
while  at  work  on  the  road  leading  to  the  battery 
which  the  government  was  erecting  at  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor  of  Castine,  found  an  ancient  relic  near 
the  old  brick  battery,  known  as  the  "  Lower  Fort," 
not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  It  is  a  piece 
of  sheet  copper,  about  eight  inches  by  ten,  with  the 
following  inscription,  whose  letters  appear  to  have 
been  scratched  or  written  with  some  pointed  instru- 
ment : — 

1648.     8.    IVN.    F. 
LEO  PARISIN 
CAPYC.  MISS. 
POSVI  HOC  FY- 
NDTM  IN  HNR- 
EM  NK^  BM.M 
SANCT^  SPEI. 


164r8.  8.  Junii.  Frater  Leo  Parisinus  Missiona- 
rius  posui  lioc  fundamentum  in  honorem  Nostras 
Dominse  SanctsB  Spei. 

1648,  Stli  of  June.  I,  Brother  Leo,  of  Paris, 
Capuchin,  Missionary,  laid  this  foundation  in  honor 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Holy  Hope. 

We  know  that  Capuchins  were  stationed  on  the 


54 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


coast  of  Maine  as  chaplains  to  French  posts.  Tliey 
had  a  monastery  on  tlie  Penobscot  and  an  hospice  on 
the  Kennebec.  From  this  inscription  it  appears  that 
t)ie  convent  must  have  been  near  Castine  ;  and  from 
that  place  they  may  have  attended  the  missions  of 
the  Penobscot  Indians,  but  it  does  not  prove  that 
tlie  Indians  had  any  settlement  at  or  near  Castine. 
W^e  cannot  give  any  estimate  of  the  number  of  the 
Penobscot  Indians,  but  they  are  believed  to  have 
been  about  twenty-four  hundred  men,  women,  and 
children. 

Tlie  grand  settlement  of  the  Etchimins  was  on  the 
St.  Croix  river,  and  on  the  Schoodic  Lakes  on  both 
branches  of  the  river.  The  Indians  of  this  river 
have  always  been  called  Etchimins^  and  the  St. 
Croix  river  was  called  the  river  of  the  Etchimins. 
Its  real  Indian  name  is  Pcsl'adamiulil'anti^'^  it  goes 
up  into  the  opon  Jieldf^.  This  river  is  at  present 
called  St.  Croix  river,  because  it  runs  in  the  form  of 
a  cross ;  one  br«inch  goes  up  northeast  to  the 
Schoodic  lakes,  tliut  bound  the  State  of  Maine  and 
New  Brunswick  ;  the  other  branch  runs  westward 
to  the  Schoodic  hikes  towards  the  Passadumkeag 
river,  point  v^hcre  it  falls  on  gravel.  The  eastern 
brancii  is  called  by  the  Indians  Cheputnaticook,^  Imo 
land  near  the  river  j  the  western  branch  is  named 
Peskadawiahkanti/^  it  goes  up  into  the  open  fields  ; 
hence  Schood'c-lakesy  open-field-lakes.f  The  Indian 
villages  on  this  river  were  few  and  small.  At  pre- 
sent thero  is  yet  a  small  tr\h^  (^lilliid  Passa?naquoddt/f 

*  Clinrlevoix,  vol.  i.,  liv.  iii.,  p.  133. 
f  Open  by  fire.    Schooti  moans  ^re. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


55 


a  corruption  of  the  word  PeshamaquontiJc^  deriving 
the  name  from  the  river  Peskadamiukkanti,  and  not 
from  the  word  Quoddy^  haddock,  as  it  is  erroneously- 
believed.  It  is  true  that  they  at  present  call  them- 
selves Quoddy  Indians,  but  I  have  been  informed  by 
very  old  Indians  that  their  name  was  Peskama- 
quonty.  We  know  from  ancient  writers  that  the 
Micmacs  did  not  know  the  cod-fish,  and  this  was 
probably  the  case  with  the  Etchimins. 

I  feel  nearly  certain  that  there  was  no  village 
at  Indian  island,  between  Bear  island  and  Campo- 
hello  island  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay.  The  natives 
have  occupied  that  island  since  i^he  time  of  Pe- 
Mbnts,  and  from  thence  they  moved  to  their  present 
village  at  Syhaik,  Pleasant-point  Their  ancient 
village  was  Gunasquamekook,  long-gravel-har-joining- 
the-island,  on  the  British  side,  where  now  stands  the 
city  of  St  Andrew.  There  they  leased  some  land  to 
certain  E-iglishmen  for  a  few  years,  but  at  the  expi- 
ration of  the  time,  when  they  asked  their  land  back, 
they  were  not  only  refused,  but  they  were  forced  to 
leave  tlieir  native  place  ;  hence  they  were  obliged  to 
move  to  an  island  in  the  bay,  now  called  Indian 
island.  They  remained  there  for  a  few  years,  when 
that  island  was  either  given  or  sold  by  the  Bri- 
tish government,  and  the  Indians  again  compelled 
to  move  away.  They  wandered  for  several  years 
about  Eastport,  when  they  were  allowed  by  the 
government  of  the  State  of  Maine  to  haVe  a  few 
acres  of  land  at  Pleasant-point  as  a  permanent  settle- 
ment, where  they  at  present  reside  on  a  dry  and 
sandy  beach.    There  was  also  another  village  where 


'  4 


t 


\     !' 


,.    ■! 


I 


66 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


I' 


Pemhrohe  is,  called  Imnar^kuan,  where  we  make 
maple-sugar. 

The  other  settlement  was  on  the  St.  John's  river, 
and  there  they  had  several  large  villages.  The  In- 
dians of  this  river  are  said  to  have  been  numerous 
and  powerful.  This  river  was  called  St.  John  by 
the  French,  because  they  entered  it  on  the  day  of 
the  festival  of  this  saint,  but  it  was  called  Onigundi 
by  its  inhabitants,  and  Ulasteku  by  the  western 
Etchimins  and  Abnakis.  The  Indians  on  this  river 
were  called  accordingly  Onigundiek  and  Ulastekit- 
hiek.  The  name  in  both  dialects  signifies  good  river, 
that  is,  clear  of  obstructions  for  navigation.  We  do 
not  know  of  any  particular  name  of  the  Indian  vil- 
lages on  this  river,  except  that  the  place  of  the  pre- 
sent city  of  St,  John  was  called  by  the  natives  Me- 
narkwesse,  the  weather  is  inconstant,  that  is,  now 
clear  and  on  a  sudden  cloudy  and  foggy.  They  had 
a  village  near  Frederick-town,  and  another  on  the 
river  Tohic  {alder4rees). 

The  opinion  of  those  who  assert  that  the  abori- 
gines of  St.  John's  river  were  numerous  and  pow- 
erful, must  be  incorrect.  "VVe  have  no  monument 
to  support  it.  This  error  must  have  originated  by 
confounding  the  Etchimins  with  the  Micmacs,  who 
were  powerful  and  very  numerous.  This  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  those  writers  call  the  Etchi- 
mins  Mareschites,  and  they  say  that  Etchimins 
means  canoe-men.  Now  Mareschites  indicates  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Miramichi  river  in  New  Brunswick, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Miramichi  river  were  and 
are  Micmacs,  and  not  Etchimins.  Moreover,  Eichimin 


' 


"11   'f  MTliTilil' 


! 


-« 


1 


I' 


I 


us 

o 


s 


• 


it 


u 


THE  ABNAEIS:   .4ND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


67 


does  not  mean  canoe-men^  but  simply  men,  whereas 
Souriquois  (the  Micmacs)  means  good  canoe-men,'^ 
resolving  the  word  thus,  so-uli-quoit,  which  are  roots 
of  these  three  words,  tchhn,  man,  pronounced  by  the 
Micmacs  shi7n  and  sim,  which  in  union  of  the  word 
uri  (for  uli,  good),  for  euphony's  sake,  makes  so-uri, 
or  s-wi,  and  aguiten,  canoe,  which  in  composition 
drops  the  a,  making  s-uli-quU,  pronounced  by  the 
French  souriquoas.  Moreover,  the  Mlramichi  river 
is  called  by  Quartier  canoe,  or  hoat-river,  not  thai; 
it  was  the  meaning  of  the  word  Miramichi,  but  from 
the  inhabitants  of  that  river.  The  French  af  or 
wards  called  the  Souriquois  by  the  nickname  oi  Mic 
macs,  that  is,  secrcts-practising-men,  on  account  of 
their  medicine-men  and  jugglers,  who  were  nu)  se- 
rous and  famous  amongst  them.  Mareschite  ^omes 
from  Malike,  which  in  old  Abnaki,  and  also  in  Dela- 
ware, means  witchcraft ;  hence  the  French  name 
Micmac  is  a  substitute  for  Mareschite. 

The  Micmacs  were  a  large  and  powerful  nation, 
occupying  the  present  Nova  Scotia, the  Atlantic  coast 
of  New  Brunswick,  the  southern  shore  of  the  mouth 
of  the  great  St.  Lawrence,  the  islands  on  the  gulf  of 
the  same  river  as  far  east  as  Newfoundland.  They 
were  valiant  and  powerful,  and  numbered  several 
thousands.  In  1760,  %/hen  Fr.  Maynard  made  his 
submission  to  the  British,  he  said  that  the  Micmacs 
were  three  thousand,  yet  their  number  at  that  time 
was  verv  much  reduced.     The  number  of  the  Indian 


.  < 


♦  The  word  Micmac  is  a  nickname  given  by  the  French  to  the 
natives  of  Nova  Scotia. 


58 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


Vi' 

ff.'  i 


«f 


villages  in  the  territory  of  the  Micmacs  must  have 
been  large.  A  French  gentleman,  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten in  1710,  giving  an  account  of  the  country  of 
Acadia,  or  rather  of  the  present  Nova  Scotia,  saya 
that  in  the  whole  Peninsula  there  were  only  three 
towns,  namely,  I^ort  lioyal,  the  present  Annapolis, 
in  the  Bay  of  Fundy ;  Les  Mines^  which  must  be 
either  the  present  Mhiadie,  in  the  Bay  of  Chignecto- 
strait  (wo(/o(j^ie(j/uetum\*  or  some  place  in  the  Mines- 
strait^  or  basin  ;  the  other,  Beaubassin,  good  basin, 
must  be  the  present  T*ort  Mi,  in  Queen's  county, 
on  the  Atlantic  shore.  But  this  French  gentleman 
could  not  have  been  acquainted  with  the  other  vil- 
lages of  Nova  Scotia.  From  a  map  of  Ducreux, 
drawn  in  1660,  half  a  century  earlier  than  the  above- 
mentioned  letter,  we  know  that  there  existed  also 
the  village  of  Canzo  (Campseium),  named  after  a 
French  navigator  named  Canse,t  Halifax  (Portus  S. 
Helenje),  Margaret's  Bay  (Sinus  S.  Margaritse),  Yar- 
mouth (Portuin),  and  Egerton  (Wegogueguets). 

Besides  these  villages  in  Nova  Scotia,  there  were 
several  others  in  New  Brunswick,  towards  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  namely,  liiglhiicto,  or  EJagihucto, 
the  frayer  fire  /  another  at  the  right  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Mlramichi  river,  called  Mirarnichi  village, 
from  the  name  of  the  river,  which  means,  river  of 
the  jugglers,  rivihre  des  Micn^acs.X  Its  location 
must  have  been  the  present  Nelson  village,  at  the 

*  Ducreux's  mnp.  f  Thev«it, 

X  The  Penobscot  Indians  translate  the  word  Miranuchi,  it  has  wad- 
ding. They  give  this  translatioa,  because  they  have  lost  the  word 
maliku  (witchcraft). 


U 


!! 


J 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


59 


confiiience  of  the  Miramichi  river  and  the  southwest 
branch  of  the  same.  Another,  called  Nip'ujiquit 
(nepegequitins  pagus),  trees  good  for  canoes^  at  the 
left  of  the  mouth  of  the  Ni/pidguit  river,  where 
Bathurst  now  stands.  Another  at  the  left  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Ristigouch  river^  on  Chaleurs 
Bay^*  in  Bonaventure  count}',  Canada  E.  The  name 
of  this  Indian  village  was  Papechigunach  {place 
for  spring  amusements^  pipechigunatius),  but  now 
it  is  improperly  called  Bistigutch,  Another  on 
the  Grand  Cascapediac  river,  in  the  counties  of 
Bimotishi  and  Gaspe,  Lower  Canada.  The  correct 
name  of  the  village  and  river  was  Kigicapigiaky  the 
great  establishment^  or  Great  Harbor.  We  are  not 
aware  that  there  was  any  Indian  settlement  on  the 
Island  of  Anticosti,  or  rather  Natishotis  (open  fields, 
that  is,  opened  by  being  burned),  nor  that  there  was 
any  in  Prince  Edward^s  island,  or  on  the  Magdalen 
islands,  but  they  had  a  settlement  in  Newfound- 
land. There  is  yet  a  place  there  called  Indian  vil- 
lage, near  lake  Badger  in  Fogo  county,  between  the 
river  of  Exploits  and  Notre-Dame  bay.  There  are 
two  rivers  in  that  part  of  the  island  which  still  bear 
the  name  of  Indian  rivers.  These  two  rivers  enter 
HalVs  hay.  There  is  also  another  river  called  Indian 
river,  and  it  enters  the  eastern  part  of  the  Bathurst^ 
or  VictoHa  lake,  which  river  may  be  considered  as 
the  commencement  of  the  river  of  the  Exploits,  the 
largest  and  longest  river  existing  in  Newfoundland, 

*  This  bay  was  discovered  by  Jacqties  Cartier,  in  his  first  voyage, 
1531.  He  gave  to  it  the  name  of  Bay  des  Chaleurs  (of  heat),  on 
account  of  the  excessive  heat  which  existed  there  wlieu  he  entered  it 
on  the  3d  of  July. 


A 


1 


I 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RELIGION   AND   SXTPEHSTITION. 

XT  is  certain  that  the  inhabitants  of  Acadia  were 
not  idolaters,  nor  imbued  with  the  errors  of 
the  Manicheans,  as  they  have  been  wrongfully 
accused.  It  is  true,  that  they  in  some  manner  wor- 
shipped the  Sun,  offering  sacrifices  to  it,  but  the  In- 
dians explain,  that  that  material  luminary  was  not  the 
object  of  their  worehip,  but  it  only  represented  ano- 
ther luminary  invisible  to  our  eyes  ;  and  as  the  sun, 
illuminating  the  whole  earth,  gives  life  and  light  to 
every  object,  so  it  was  representing  an  invisible  Be- 
ing, who  gives  'light,  animation,  life,  and  support  to 
the  whole  world.  It  is  true,  that  they  believed  in 
an  evil  spirit  called  by  them  MatchiniwesL^  or  Mat- 
chi'Nixkam^  to  whom  they  also  offered  sacrifices,  yet 


1 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


61 


it  was  not  to  tliem  an  object  of  worship,  but  only 
they  thought  thus  to  appease  him  that  he  should  not 
hurt  them  in  their  hunting  and  fishing  excursions, 
or  in  their  battles.  They  believed  only  in  one  Su- 
preme Being,  Creator  of  all  things,  whom  they  call- 
ed the  Great  Spirit,  Ketchiniwesh^  or  K'' chi-Nixkam^ 
who  was  the  master  and  ruler  of  all,  and  superior  to 
all  Spirits  both  good  and  evily  and  this  Being  is  what 
we  call  God.  The  evil  Spirit  was  never  called  by 
them  Gvmt  Spirit^  but  only,  evil  Spirit.  They  had 
a  confused  idea  of  the  Creation  of  man,  and  of  the 
deluge,  but  they  possessed  a  distinct  knowledge  of 
a  future  reward  for  the  just,  who  were  to  be  intro- 
duced in  a  good  land  full  of  game  and  hunting  and 
fishing  grounds;  and  in  a  future  punishment  for 
the  wicked,  who  were  to  be  scalped  an  '  otherwise 
tormented  by  the  hands  of  their  enemies.  They 
had  also  a  knowledge  of  a  middle  state,  where  they 
in  some  manner  could  be  assisted  and  relieved 
by  their  living  friends.  Hence,  they  thought  to  do 
some  good  to  the  souls  of  the  dead  by  setting  tire  io 
the  wigwams  where  they  had  died,  by  killing  the 
best  dog,  by  burying  or  hanging  to  some  tree  the 
bow  and  arrows  belonging  to  the  deceased,  by  carry- 
ing victuals  to  the  graves,  by  singing,  dancing,  and 
crying,  by  cutting  their  flesh,  and  such  like  Indian 
practices.  They  performed  these  things  with  a  great 
and  strict  scrupulosity,  not  by  a  mere  custom  or 
ceremony,  uut  because  tliey  were  truly  impressed 
with  the  idea  of  doing  some  good  to  their  departed 
friends  and  relations.  In  their  conversion  to  Catho- 
licity, they  found  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  very 


m 


M 


t  l> 


62 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


'5 
't 


M 


'^^ 


!    i 


reasonable  and  conformable  to  their  ancient  tradition 
of  a  middle  state,  and  they  had  a  contempt  for  Pro- 
testantism for  their  negligence  in  assisting  the  dead, 
and  in  refusing  to  offer  prayere  for  the  repose  of 
their  souls. 

Their  superstition  was  extreme,  and  so  much  inter- 
mixed with  acts  of  religion,  that  it  has  given  strong 
motives  to  accuse  them  of  idolatry.  The  Penobscot 
Indians  believed  that  an  evil  spirit,  called  Pamola 
(he  curses  on  the  mountain) — resided,  during  the 
Bummer  season,  on  the  top  of  Mount  Katahdin — 
(the  greatest  of  moimtains.)  They  ofi^ered  sacrifices 
to  him  to  appease  him,  so  that  he  should  not  curse 
them,  or  otlierwise  injure  them.  Although  they 
liunted  and  fished  in  the  woods  and  lakes  around 
Mount  Katahdin,  yet  they  never  attempted  to  go  on 
the  top  of  that  mountain,  in  the  assurance  that  they 
would  never  be  able  to  return  from  tliat  place,  but  bo 
either  killed  or  devoured  by  tlie  evil  spirit  Pamola. 
They  pretended  to  have  seen  this  spirit  on  the  top 
of  the  mountain  on  several  occasions  while  hunting 
or  fishing  around  it.  It  was  but  till  late,  that  they 
have  attempted  to  ascend  that  mountain.  It  is  not 
long  since  that  a  party  of  white  ])eople  desired  to 
go  on  the  top  of  Mount  Katahdin,  and  took  some 
Indian^  'o  accompany  them  as  gui<les.  The  Indians 
escorted  them  to  the  foot  of  tlio  mountain,  but  tliey 
refused  to  go  further,  fearing  to  be  either  killed 
or  devoured  l)y  Pamola.  No  ])er8ua8i(ui  from  the 
))arty  could  induce  theui  to  proceed  further;  on  the 
contrary,  the  Indians  tried  to  dissuade  the  j)arty 
from  ascending  the  mountain,  speaking  to  them  of 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


63 


this  evil  spirit,  and  how  many  Indians  had  been 
killed  or  devoured  by  him,  and  that  no  man  ever  re- 
turned, who  dared  to  go  on  Mount  Katahdin.  The 
Indians,  however,  were  prevailed  upon  to  wait  for 
the  descent  of  the  party,  who,  in  spite  of  the  renion- 
etrance  of  the  Indians,  ascended  the  mountain  by 
themselves,  without  guides.  They  were  quite  sur- 
prised to  see  the  party  back,  as  they  entertained  no 
hope  of  their  return,  believing  with  certainty  that 
they  had  been  killed  or  devoured  by  Painola. 

It  would  not  be  improper  to  give  here  a  brief 
episode  of  the  Indian  tradition  concerning  this  evil 
spirit  Pamola^  residing  upon  Mount  Katahdin — a 
mountain  famous  amongst  the  Indians  of  Maine — a 
tradition,  which  is  believed  by  the  Indians  unto  this 
very  day.  Tiiey  relate  that  several  hundred  years 
ago,  while  a  Penobscot  Indian  was  encamped  east- 
ward of  Mount  Katahdin  on  the  autumn  hunting 
eeason,  a  severe  and  unexpected  fall  of  snow  covered 
the  whole  land  to  the  depth  of  several  feet.  Being 
unj)rovided  with  snow  shoes,  he  found  himself  una- 
ble to  return  home.  After  remaining  several  days 
in  the  camp,  blocked  up  with  drifts  of  snow,  and 
seeing  no  means  of  escape,  he  thought  that  he 
was  doomed  to  perish ;  hence,  as  it  were  through 
despair,  he  called  with  loud  voice  on  Painola  for 
several  ♦•ukcs.  Finally,  Pamola  made  his  appear- 
ance on  the  top  of  the  mountain.  The  Indian  took 
courage,  and  (►flV'red  to  him  a  sacrifice  of  oil  and  fat, 
which  he  p<Mn(Ml  and  coriKumed  upon  burning  coals 
out  of  the  camp.  Ah  the  smoke  was  ascending, 
Pamola  was  descending.     The  sacrilice  was   cou- 


n 


i "  I 


» 


64 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


m 


Slimed  when  this  spirit  got  only  half  way  down 
the  mountain.  Here  the  Indian  t0(>k  more  oil  and 
fat,  and  repeated  the  sacrifice,  till  Pamola  arrived 
at  the  camp,  and  the  Indian  welcomed  liim,  say- 
ing: "You  are  w^elcome,  partner,"  Pamola  re- 
plied :  "  You  have  done  well  to  call  me  partner ; 
because  you  have  called  me  by  that  name,  you  are 
saved,  otherwise  you  would  have  been  killed  by  me. 
No  Indian  has  ever  called  on  me  and  lived,  having 
always  being  devoured  by  me.  Kow  I  will  take 
you  on  the  mouiilain,  and  you  shall  be  happy  with 
me."  Pamola  put  the  Indian  on  his  shoulders,  bid 
liim  close  the  eyes,  and  in  few  moments,  with  a 
noise  like  the  whistling  of  a  powerful  wind,  they 
wer3  inside  of  the  mountain.  The  Indian  describes 
the  interior  of  Mount  Katahdin  as  containing  a 
good,  comfortal)le  wigwam,  furnished  with  abun- 
dance of  venison,  and  with  all  the  luxuries  of  life, 
and  that  Pamola  had  wife  and  children  living  in 
the  mountain.  Pamola  gave  him  his  daughter  to 
wife,  and  told  hitn  that  after  one  year  he  could  re- 
turn to  his  friends  on  the  Penobscot,  and  that  he 
might  go  back  to  the  mountain  to  see  his  wife  any 
time  he  ])leased,  and  remain  as  long  as  ho  wished. 
He  was  warned  that  ho  could  not  marry  again,  but 
if  ho  should  marry  again,  he  would  be  at  once  trans- 
jtortcd  to  Mount  Katahdin,  with  no  hope  of  ever 
more  going  out  of  it.  After  one  year  the  Indian  ro- 
t\irned  to  Oldtcnvnand  related  all  that  had  ha])pened 
to  him  in  Mount  Katahdin,  an<l  the  circumstances 
through  which  he  got  into  it.  The  Indians  persuaded 
him  to  marry  again,  which  ho  at  first  refused,  but 


1 


^ 


1* 


-*t 


J 


I 


' 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


65 


ti/ey  Rt  last  provaiieu  on  him  to  marry,  but  the 
moiiiiiig  after  his  marriage,  he  disappeared,  and 
nothing  more  was  hear*!  of  him ;  they  ielt  sure  that 
he  had  been  taken  by  Pamela  into  Mount  Katahdiu, 
as  he  had  told  them. 

This  fact  filled  the  Indians  with  consternation,  and 
they  conceived  a  great  fear  for  this  evil  spirit,  yet  a 
young  Indian  woman  constantly  persisted  in  refusing 
to  believe  even  in  the  existence  of  Pamola,  unless 
Bhe  saw  him  with  her  own  eyes.  It  happened  one 
day,  that  while  she  was  on  the  shores  of  the  lake 
Amhociictua^*  Pamola  appeared  to  her  and  re- 
proached her  with  her  incredulity.  He  took  her  by 
force,  put  her  on  his  shoulders,  and  after  a  few  mo- 
ments' flight,  with  a  great  whistling  of  wind,  they 
were  in  the  interior  of  the  mountain.  There  she 
remained  for  one  year,  and  was  well  treated,  but  was 
got  with  child  by  Pamola.  A  few  months  before 
her  confinement,  Pamola  told  her  to  go  back  to  her 
relations,  saying  that  the  child  that  was  to  be  born 
of  her  would  be  great,  and  would  perform  such 
wonders  as  to  amaze  the  nation.  He  would  have 
the  power  to  kill  any  person  or  animal  by  simply 
pointing  out  at  the  object  witli  the  fore  finger  of 
his  riglit  hand.  Hence,  that  the  child  was  to  be 
watched  very  closely  till  the  age  of  manhood, 
beciiuse  many  evils  might  follow  from  that  power. 

♦  Atnboctictus  Ih  a  luko  near  Mount  Katahdin,  on  tho  south-weat 
side.  Jt  appears  that  this  lake  was  consecrated  to  Pamola.  Ara- 
boctictu8  means  the  Phallus.  It  is  called  so  after  a  rock  in  that  lake, 
that  has  the  form  of  that  part  of  the  body  when  viewed  at  a  dig* 
tance.    Borne  Indians  pronouDce  it  Ambochictus. 


u 


■  ■^'■■rv»mmmMtmt!»ummii\»vnmmammt.u 


66 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


IV' 


But  when  the  child  grew  up  lie  would  save  his 
own  nation  from  the  hands  of  its  enemies,  and 
would  confer  many  benefits  to  the  people.  If  she 
should  be  in  need  of  any  assistance,  she  had  nothing 
to  do  but  to  call  on  Pamela  in  any  place  she  might 
be,  and  he  would  appear  to  her.  He  warned  her 
not  to  marry  again ;  because  if  she  should  marry 
again,  both  she  and  the  child  w^ould  at  once  ^e 
transported  into  Mount  Katahdin  for  ever.  He 
then  put  her  on  his  shoulders  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  he  had  done  in  taking  her  up  to  the  moun- 
tain, and  left  her  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  Amboctic- 
tus.  She  returned  to  Old-town,  where  she  related 
all  that  had  happened  to  her,  and  also  that  she  had 
seen,  in  the  mountain,  that  Indian,  of  whom  I  have 
made  mention  above. 

The  child  was  born,  and  she  took  great  care  of 
him.  She  called  several  times  on  Pamela,  who 
always  made  his  appearance  to  her.  When  she 
wanted  any  venison,  either  into  the  woodt  or  in  the 
river,  aha  had  but  to  lake  the  child,  ai.d  holding  his 
riglit  hand,  she  stretched  out  his  fore  finger,  and 
made  it  point  out  to  a  deer,  or  moose,  and  it  at  once 
fell  dead.  So,  also,  in  a  iiock  of  ducks,  she  made 
the  child's  first  finj^er  fiingle  one  out  of  the  flock, 
which  likewise  fell  dead.  The  child  grew,  and  he 
waB  the  admiration  and  pride  of  all. 

I*;  happened  one  day,  that  while  he  was  stand- 
ing at  the  door  rf  tho.  wgwam,  he  saw  a  friend 
of  his  mother  coiiii,:;.  He  '  nnounced  it  to  her,  and 
at  the  Bame  time,  v/itli  nue  hr&t  finger  of  his  right 
hand,  he  pointed  at  hm;,  and  the  man  immediately 


/ 


•■-.x:.- 


.    ■!/,.*.' 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


67 


IS 

d 
e 


dropped  dead.  This  fact  caused  great  consterna- 
tion, not  only  in  the  mother  of  tlie  cliik],  but  also 
in  the  entire  tribe,  who  looked  on  liiui  as  a  very 
dangerous  subject  among  them.  Everybody  fled 
from  his  company,  and  even  from  his  sight.  The 
mother  called  on  Pamola,  and  related  to  him  what 
had  happened,  and  also  the  fear  and  consternation 
in  which  she  and  the  entire  tribe  were.  PamoUi  told 
her  that  he  had  already  wanuMl  her  to  watch  the 
child,  because  the  power  conferred  on  the  child 
might  produce  serious  evils.  He  now  advised  her 
to  keep  the  child  altogether  apart  fron?  society  till 
the  age  of  manhood,  as  he  might  be  fatal  with  many 
others.  The  Indians  wanted  her  to  marry,  but  she 
refused  on  the  groimd  of  it  being  forbidden  by 
Pamela,  who  was  her  husband,  and  in  case  of  mar- 
riage, she  and  child  both  would  be  taken  up  Mount 
Katahdin.  However,  the  Indians  prevailed  upon 
her,  and  she  married,  but  in  the  evening  of  the  mar- 
riage-day. while  all  the  Indians  were  gathered 
together  in  dancing  and  feasting  for  the  celebration 
of  the  marriage,  both  she  and  the  child  diijaj)poared 
for  ever. 

This  is,  of  course,  a  superstitious  tale,  made  up  by 
the  prolific  imagination  of  some  Indians,  yet  we  can 
j)erceive  in  it  some  vestiges  of  the  fall  of  the  first 
man,  in  having  trani^gressod  the  command  of  God, 
and  how  it  could  be  repaired  only  by  God,  We  can 
also  trace  some  ideas  of  the  mystery  of  the  Incarna- 
ti<Mi  of  the  Son  of  (i^od  in  the  w»iinb  of  the  liiessed 
Virgifi  Mary,  mixed  with  laMeK,  huperstitions,  and 
pagan  errors.    The  appearauco  of  God  to  Moses  in 


■•  i.Jp"«»«v»-w*«(kwr  •*»«*».- »-^«B»><iwiH«fc#v.i 


68 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


a  burning  bush  upon  Mount  Iloreb,  may  be  glimpsed 
in  Pamola  appearing  to  the  Indian  on  Mount  Ka- 
taiidin,  and  so  forth ;  yet  these  are  but  conjec- 
tures. 

Even  at  present  they  have  several  superstitious 
ideas  ;  for  instance,  thoy  have  never  consented  to  en- 
large the  graveyard  nt  Old-town,  which  is  over  full 
of  corpses,  or  to  have  a  new  one,  because  the  old 
Indians  persuade  the  young  that  if  they  enlarge  it, 
or  if  they  will  have  a  new  one,  they  would  soon 
die  to  till  it. 

One  e'  :  ling  I  went  to  their  settlement  at  Old- 
town  to  stop  with  them  for  a  few  days.  I  found  the 
Indians  in  a  great  consternation,  and  in  inquiring  the 
cause  of  it,  they  related  to  me  that  since  the  death 
of  an  Indian,  which  had  happened  a  few  days  since, 
they  had  always  found  the  door  of  the  church  open 
^n  the  morning,  although  it  had  been  very  carefully 
locked  in  tlie  evening.  That  they  hud  watched  dur- 
ing the  night  to  see  lest  any  person  would  open  it; 
that  they  had  searcluMl  tlrj  church,  yet,  notwith- 
standing all  this,  the  door  of  the  church  was  found 
open  Qvcry  morni'  g,  which  they  attributed  to  tlio 
ghost  of  the  late  deceased  Indian.  I  hiuglied  at  it, 
but  they  were  serious.  As  my  dwelling  was  con- 
nected with  the  church,  the  Indians  felt  uneasy  for 
my  safety  during  the  night.  About  11  o'clock  p.m., 
four  Indians  came  to  me  with  a  large  dog,  and  I  was 
entreated  to  accept  that  dog  for  iln)  night,  and  to 
keep  it  in  my  bed-room  in  order  to  i)rot(;ct  mo 
against  the  ghost  of  the  Indian.  Of  coui-se,  1  re- 
fused it,  assuring  them  there  was  no  need  of  it.     But 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


69 


it  was  of  no  use ;  I  was  obliged  to  consent  to  have 
that  dog  in  anotl)er  room  between  the  lioiiso  and  the 
Church,  in  order  to  satisfy  them.  In  the  morning  I 
showed  to  them  that  the  door  of  the  church  was 
closed,  and  that  nothing  had  happened  during  the 
night.  I  tried  to  persuade  them  that  if  the  church 
door  had  in  reality  been  found  opened  in  the  morn- 
ing, some  person  had  opened  it  to  frighten  them. 
They,  however,  were  not  satisfied  by  this  explana- 
tion. 

They  have  yet  the  practice  of  building  a  large  fire 
and  dancing  around  it  at  midsummer-day,  and  they 
generally  do  it  cu  the  day  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 
Hence,  they  call  the  day  of  St.  John,  edutsi  peska- 
mek  skute,  it  conies  the  sparkling  fire.  This  is  an  old 
Phenician  custom,  by  which  the  Plienicians  wor- 
shipped the  Sun.  This  custom  is  found,  even  at 
present,  amongst  some  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  who 
build  bonfires  called  Baaltinne. 

The  Indians  of  St.  John*  gave  a  kind  of  worship 
to  a  dead  tree,  standing  up  at  the  fall  of  St.  John's 
river  in  a  basin  of  four  hundred  feet  of  circumfer- 
ence. This  tree  4){)eared  floating,  and  never  leaves 
the  place,  notwithstanding  the  current.  Sometimes 
it  appeared  covered  by  the  water,  and  going  around 
like  a  pivot.  They  attached  to  it  skins  of  beavers 
and  other  animals.  In  undertaking  a  '^oyago,  if 
they  could  not  see  that  tree,  it  was  considered  to  be 
a  bad  omen  for  that  voyage. 

^lany   and    wonderful  things  arc  related   of  the 
supei-stition   and  witchcrafts   of  the   MicMuacs,  and 

*  Charlevoix,  vol.  1,  liv.  iii. 


M 


I 


70 


THE  ABNAOS:  AND  THEIK  HISTORT. 


I 


I. 


especially  of  their  conjurors,  medicine-men,  and 
jujj:gler8,  which  was  the  cause  why  these  Indians 
were  called  Micmaca  by  the  French.  A  French 
gentleman,  in  a  printed  relation  on  the  Micmacs,  and 
Charlevoix,  quote  eye-witnesses  of  the  wonders  ope- 
rated by  the  Micmac  enchanters  and  jugglers  in 
the  thick  and  solitary  woods,  whither  they  used 
to  resort  for  enchantments.  They  testify  to  have 
seen  the  woods  trembling  and  shaking  under  their 
feet  by  their  enchantments ;  of  having  observed 
contortions  and  forms  taken  by  the  Indians,  not 
possible  to  mere  men ;  of  liaving  heard  voices,  not 
human,  and  many  other  wonderful  things.  If  a 
maid,  during  her  monthly  periods,  happened  to  step 
on  an  unmarried  man,  he  believed  that  he  would  be 
disabled  in  all  his  limbs,  and  he  did  not  move  a 
step,  till  the  imaginary  distemper  (the  month)  was 
over.  So  if  she  touched  a  firelock,  it  was  believed  to 
be  enchanted,  and  no  game  was  killed  with  it  any 
more.  Before  a  battle,  the  warriors  had  a  fight  with 
the  women  ;  if  these  had  the  best,  it  was  considered 
a  go  d  sign,  but  if  the  women  had  the  worst,  it  was 
taken  as  a  bad  omen. 


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CHAPTER  X. 


PUBLIC   LIFE. 


^HE  Etcliemins,  Micmacs,  and  Abnakis,  are 
often  considered  as  one  nation,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  similarity  of  their  language, 
customs,  suavity  of  manner,  religion,  and  attachment 
to  the  French,  but  also  on  account  of  their  league  in 
defending  themselves  against  the  English.  Although 
the  Micmacs  are  generally  somewhat  smaller  in  size 
than  the  other  Indians  of  Acadia  and  New  France, 
yet  they  are  equally  brave.  They  have  long  made 
war  against  the  Esquimaux  {eaters  of  raw  flesh), 
whom  they  have  followed  and  attacked  in  their 
caverns  and  rocks  of  Labrador.  Newfoundland 
must  have  several  times  been  the  field  of  hard  bat- 


I 


'# 


72 


THE  ABNAKIS  :  AND  THEIK  HISTOEY. 


ties  between  the  Micmacs  and  the  Esquimaux ;  the 
latter  were  always  defeated  by  the  former. 

Their  Chief  was,  and  is  yet  called  Saghem  by 
some  tribes,  and  Sangman  by  others,  which  is  the 
same  word,  but  pronounced  differently,  and  it  means 
over  the  whole  world.  The  wife  or  wives  of  the 
Chief,  take  the  title  of  Sangrnansque^  but  they  had 
no  power.  The  same  is  at  present  with  the  wife  of 
the  Governor  of  the  tribe.  The  sons  are  called 
SangmansiSj  the  daughters,  Sangmanshwessis^  the 
relations,  Sangmanhwagodek.  The  office  of  the 
Chief  has  never  been  hereditary  amongst  the  In- 
dians, but  the  Supreme  Magistrate  was  elected  gene- 
rally from  amongst  those  who  had  larger  families. 
All,  especially  the  youth,  obeyed  the  Saghem  with 
great  submission  and  respect.  The  Chiefs  of  entire 
nations  had  other  subordinate  Chiefs,  who  presided 
over  small  tribes,  and  settled  their  difficulties.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  season,  all  the  Chiefs  assembled  in 
a  designated  spot  in  order  to  transact  the  affairs  of 
the  whole  nation.  Small  quarrels  were  settled  in 
the  camp,  and  often  finished  in  a  fight,  without, 
however,  their  doing  each  other  much  injury. 

When  the  Chiefs  thought  that  they  had  received 
any  wrong,  they  assembled  all  their  people  in  some 
fixed  places,  and  to  encourage  them,  they  made  a 
speech,  in  which  they  displayed  great  eloquence. 
Then  lifting  up  their  axes,  the  question  was  proposed, 
whether  they  would  not  all  agree  to  take  the  inju- 
ries into  their  hands.  If  the  whole  company  con- 
sented, they  made  a  mock  skirmish  among  them- 
selves, as  if  they  were  in  earnest.    They  also  had 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


73 


the 
the 


recourse  to  their  conjurers  and  fortune-tellers,  who 
consulted  the  devil. 

Their  bravery  in  war  was  great.  As  an  instance 
of  it,  I  may  relate  their  battles  in  the  war  against 
the  English  in  the  year  1682.  There  was  a  French 
fort  on  the  Penobscot  river,  commanded  by  the  Che- 
valier de  Grandfontaine,  in  1673,  and  another  on  the 
St.  John's  river  commanded  by  Mr.  Marion.  In 
1674,  Mr.  de  Chambly  succeeded  the  Chevalier  de 
Grandfontaine.*  A  short  time  after,  in  the  same 
year,  he  was  surprised  on  the  10th  of  August,  by  an 
English  man-of-war  with  a  crew  of  a  Flemish  pri- 
vateer, one  hundred  men  strong,  which  had  lain 
in  disguise  there  for  four  days.  Mr.  de  Cham- 
bly was  not  prepared  to  fight,  he  had  only  thirty 
persons  in  the  fort,  yet  they  defended  it  bravely  for 
one  hour,  when  Mr.  de  Chambly  received  a  musket- 
ball  through  his  body,  and  was  obliged  to  retire ; 
then  his  men  and  the  fort,  both  badly  armed,  sur- 
rendered at  discretion.  They  took,  also,  the  fort  at 
St.  John's,  which  was  afterwards  destroyed  by  the 
Dutcli.  Mr.  de  Chambly  was  surprised  at  this 
action,  both  countries  being  then  in  peace,  and  the 
author  of  this  outrage  had  no  commission,  but  he 
had  been  instigated  by  the  Bostonians,  who  could 
not  bear  the  French  to  be  in  possession  of  the  Pe- 
nobscot. In  1689,  the  French  complained  of  this 
act  perpetrated  by  the  English  and  Bostonians,  but 
in  vain,  hence  a  war  ensued.  The  Indians  joined 
the  French.     The  Etchemins  and  Abnakis  made  an 


I 
n 


'i 


lil 


li 


*  Charlevoix,  vol.  1,  liv.  x. 


'B' 


74 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


expedition  against  the  English  fort  Pemkwit  (it  is 
crooked) — a  very  strong  fort  between  the  Penobscot 
and  Kennebe  ♦,  rivers.  The  fort  was  defended  by 
twenty  cannons.  The  Indians  took  it  by  surprise, 
breaking  down  the  gate.  The  English  retired  to 
some  houses,  carrying  with  them  ten  cannons,  the 
others  being  taken  by  the  Indians.  The  English 
opened  a  terrible  fire  upon  the  fort,  but  to  no  ef- 
fect. During  the  night  the  Indians  summoned  the 
English  to  go  away  from  those  houses,  but  their  com- 
mai^der  laughed,  saying,  that  he  was  tired  and 
wanted  to  sleep.  During  the  night  the  Indians  pre- 
pared to  attack  the  English  in  the  morning,  and 
they  did  so  at  daybreak.  A  sharp  fire  was  kept  up 
on  both  sides,  but  the  English  were  obliged  to  capi- 
tulate, and  the  Indians  let  them  depart  without  any 
outrage.  It  is  worth  mentioning,  that  the  Indians 
found  in  the  fort  a  barrel  of  brandy,  which  they 
spilled  out  without  touching  it.  The  English  retired 
to  an  island,  not  far  from  the  coast.  The  Indians 
desired  to  drive  them  away  from  that  place,  but 
they  desisted  and  went  back  to  the  Penobscot  in 
the  sloops  which  they  had  taken  from  the  English, 
having  killed  the  crew. 


-^^ifik 


I  :T1 


I'fl'f 


CHAPTER  XL 


ASTRONOMY   AND   DIVISION   OF   TIME. 


^HE  Indians  possessing  no  astronomical  instru- 
ments, no  observatories,  no  celestial  globes, 
and  no  maps,  are  nc  *■  expected  to  have  made 
sucli  progress  in  astronomy  as  exclusively  seems 
to  belong  to  civilized  nations.  Yet  to  think  that 
the  Aborigines  of  this  continent  were,  and  are 
altogether  destitute  of  it,  it  would  be  an  error. 
True,  they  have  no  astronomical  instruments,  and 
whether  they  ever  had  any  is  a  question  at  present 
involved  in  darkness.  Yet  nature  seems  to  have 
endowed  them  with  very  acute  senses,  and  they 
use  them  with  much  skill  and  accuracy.  Many 
small  things,  little  circumstances,  which  generally 


f 


w 


V  W) 


76 


THE  ABNAKIS;   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


pass  unobserved  by  the  whites,  are  closely  investi- 
gated and  examined  by  them.  They  can  discover 
the  approaching  of  the  enemies,  their  nnmber  and 
distance;  they  can  tell  whether  they  have  passed 
through  a  certain  locality,  what  direction  they  have 
followed,  the  place  from  which  they  came,  etc.,  by 
observing  their  footsteps,  by  examining  the  bending 
of  the  grass  and  bushes,  by  putting  their  ears  close 
to  the  earth,  and  by  their  scent,  which  faculty  is  very 
powerful  in  the  Indians.  It  is  related  that  once  a 
Micmac  Indian  entered  a  Frenchman's  hoiise  in 
Nova  Scotia,  and  af^er  a  little  while  he  asked  for 
some  brandy.  The  Frenchman  denied  having  any, 
but  the  Indian  said  that  it  was  not  true,  and  by  the 
smell  he  discovered  the  place  where  it  was  kept. 

Except  the  religious  ideas  attached  to  the  Sun,  we 
do  not  know  that  it  was  an  object  of  astronomical 
observations  to  the  Indians ;  but  the  Moon  and  Stars 
were  and  are  closely  examined.  They  can  tell  with 
great  ease  the  part  of  day  and  night,  corresponding 
very  nigh  to  our  astronomical  manner  of  counting 
the  time.  They  can  indicate  with  great  precision  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  Sun,  Moon,  and  principal 
Stars,  the  degrees  of  their  elevation  above  the  hori- 
zon, their  zenith,  etc.  They  had  and  have  yet  a  kind 
of  sun-diitl  by  observing  their  own  shadow  and  that 
of  the  trees.  They  can  travel  without  difficulty  or 
danger  of  being  lost  through  the  thickest  woods, 
even  by  night,  and  when  they  can  see  neither  the 
Moon  nor  the  Stars.  They  observe  the  bark  of  the 
trees,  and  they  can  find  some  difference  between 
that  part  of  the  tree  turned  to  the  south  and  that 


3B8C 


I 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


77 


exposed  to  the  north.  The  shape  of  the  tree  re- 
veals to  the  Indian  the  south  from  the  nortli — the 
soitth  side  being  more  luxurious,  and  the  limbs  larger 
and  in  better  condition. 

They  knew  the  constellation  Ilyades  called  by  them 
Menepessunh  {our  rain  is  falling  in  abundance) ;  its 
Betting,  rising,  elevation,  zenith,  etc.,  was  closely  ob- 
served. They  looked  on  the  rising  of  the  Hyades  as 
an  indication  of  wet  weather.  Yet  they  could  not 
tell  that  they  were  at  the  head  of  Taurus.  They 
were  acquainted  with  the  Pleiades,  although  they  do 
not  know  that  those  stars  were  on  the  neck  of  the 
same  Taurus.  They  were  familiar  with  the  Lyre, 
the  Head  of  Medusa,  and  many  other  groups  of  stars. 
They  could  point  out  Orion,  Sirius,  and  several 
other  stars  of  first  magnitude.  They  had  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Milky- way,  of  which  they  related  many 
curious  and  fabulous  stories.  They  knew  the  planet 
Yenus,  called  by  them  If^sarHo^  it  goes  in  advance 
(from  maassa  and  otto),  and  its  movements  were  close- 
ly examined.  They  considered  it  to  be  the  morning 
star,  but  we  do  not  know  that  they  identified  it  with 
the  evening  star.  It  is  worth  observing  that  this 
was  the  only  planet  known  to  the  ancients  before  the 
historicil  times.  Homer  and  Hesiod  were  acquaint- 
ed with  it,  but  they  considered  the  morning  and 
evening  star  as  two  different  bodies.  Further  inves- 
tigations may  decide  whether  the  Indians  had  any 
idea  of  the  movement  of  the  earth  round  the  Sun. 
"We  know  that  Copernicus  had  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  ancients,  that  Nicetas,  Heraclites,  and  Ecphantus 
had  thought  of  the  possibility  of  the  motnn  of  the 


M  1 


f 


■L  » 


t  i 


78 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


:l 


V    i 


earth,  and  that  Aristarchna  of  Samoa  had  a  strong 
idea  that  the  earth  revolved  in  an  oblique  circle 
around  the  Sun,  and  that  also  revolved  daily  oiFits 
own  axis.  It  is  related  that  amongst  the  Egyptian 
ruins  a  stone  was  found  representing  the  Copernic 
system  ages  before  the  time  of  the  immortal  astrono- 
mer ;  there  is  therefore  a  possibility  that  the  natives 
of  this  Continent  had  an  idea  of  the  movement  of  the 
earth  round  the  Sun.  It  cannot  be  said  with  cer- 
tainty that  they  knew  the  polar  star,  but  they  could 
with  great  precision  point  out  the  seven  Stars  of 
Ursa  Minor  which  never  set ;  they  could  describe 
the  circle  performed  by  the  Star  at  the  end  of  the 
tail  of  this  constellation.  The  present  Indians  pre- 
serve by  tradition  the  knowledge  of  all  these  astrono- 
mical observations.  But  the  great  object,  from 
which  they  depend  in  their  astronomical  observa- 
tions, is  the  moon.  It  is  from  the  moon  that  they 
can  tell  the  kind  of  weather  which  they  expect  to 
have.  From  the  moon  they  can  foresee  the  approach- 
ing of  a  storm.  If  the  moon  appears  pale,  it  is  for 
them  a  sign  of  rain  or  snow ;  if  red,  it  is  a  prognos- 
tic of  wind.  If  the  aspect  of  the  new  moon  is  such 
as  to  appear  bent  on  the  earth,  it  is  a  sign  of  a 
stormy  month ;  but  if  it  appears  standing  upright  on 
the  earth,  it  is  an  indication  of  fair  weather  during 
its  course.  Tlie  moon  regulates  the  months  and 
the  year.  Every  month  commences  from  the  new 
moon  and  terminates  with  it.  They  distinguish  the 
four  seasons,  the  opening  of  the  leaves  of  the  trees 
and  breaking  of  the  ice,  the  warm  weather  and  fish- 
ing season,  the  hunting  season,  frosts  and  falling  of 


jir 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


79 


the  leaves,  the  closing  of  the  rivers  by  ice,  and  the 
deep  snow  season.  The  new  year  commences  from 
the  longest  moon,  that  is,  when  the  nights  are  the 
longest.  The  nights  are  the  object  of  their  calcula- 
tions, no  consideration  being  taken  from  the  len^^th 
of  the  day.  But  the  Indians  had  no  almanac,  at 
least  there  is  no  indication  of  their  having  had  any. 
The  one  used  by  them  is  of  recent  date  introduced 
by  me  for  their  convenience,  because  it  has  not 
been  possible  to  make  them  understand  our  alma- 
nac according  to  their  astronomical  ideas.  To  this 
object  I  have  held  several  conferences  with  the  old- 
est and  most  intelligent  Indians  about  their  astro- 
nomy, and  there  we  agreed  to  fix  the  commence- 
ment of  the  new  year  permanently  on  the  new  moon 
preceding  Christmas.  Ihis  will  facilitate  to  them 
the  intelligence  of  the  movable  festivals  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

They  count  twelve  months  or  rather  moons  in  the 
year,  but  their  months  cannot  con\  spond  with  ours, 
as  ours  are  based  upon  the  revob  of  the  earth 
around  the  Sun,  whereas  those  of  the  li  ans  are  regu- 
lated by  the  motion  of  the  Moon  around  the  earth, 
beginning  in  the  time  of  its  conjunction  with  the 
Sun.     Here  is  the  table  of  the  seasons  and  months. 


ji,? 


Hi 


'  ^ 


Spring. 
Siguan, 


January- 
living. 


Summer.        Autu^in.        Winter. 
Wiben.        Nekuongo,      Peboon. 

Months. 
Onglusamwessit ;  it  is  hard  to  get  a 


(( 


1^  It 


pi; 


;i 


80 


THE  ABNAKIS  :  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


February — Taquask^nikizoos ;  moon  in  which 
there  is  crust  on  the  snow. 

March — Pnhodamwikizoos  ;  moon  in  which  the 
he7is  lay. 

April — Amusswihizoos  /  m,oon  in  which  we  catch 
fish. 

May — KikhaiJcizoos  /  moon  in  which  we  sow. 

June — Muskoshikizoos  I  moon  in  which  we  catch 
young  seals. 

July — Atchittaikizoos  /  moon  in  which  the  berries 
are  ripe. 

August — Wikkaikizoos  ;  moon  in  which  there  is 
a  heap  of  eels  on  the  sand. 

September — Mantchewadokkikizoos  /  moon  in 
which  there  are  herds  of  mooses^  hears^  etc. 

October — Assebaskwats  /  there  is  ice  on  the  hanks. 

November — Ahonomhsswikizoos  i  moon  in  which 
the  frost  fish  comes. 

December — Ketchikizoos  /  the  long  moon, 

Onglusamwessit^  the  name  for  the  month  of  Janu- 
ary, is  of  late  date.  The  former  name  for  this  month 
or  moon  was  Mekwas'que^  the  cold  is  great  /  but  after 
their  village  near  Norridgewock  was  destroyed  by 
the  Bostonians  and  Mohawks,  and  the  Indians  were 
deprived  of  their  rich  land,  and  hunting-ground,  on 
the  Kennebec  river  without  any  compensation,  and 
thus  obliged  to  rove  for  a  living  ;*  they  found  very 

*  The  Abnakis  Indians,  after  the  destruction  of  their  last  village 
near  Norridgewock,  found  an  asylum  amongst  the  St.  Francis,  Penob- 
scot, and  Passamaquoddy  Indians.  Many,  however,  soon  left  St. 
Francis  in  Canada  and  returned  to  Maine. 


uich 

the 

itch 


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|r^,  ;^..i,,A.,V.t..J^'.-.,^* 

'■'••■•'>-«!&.^4j^'>-i«<>..- 


C ORPINS  CHRISTrS  DAY  AT 
OLD-TOWX  INDIAN  VlTiliAGR. 
Oig  THE   PENOBSCOT  KIVEK. 


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THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


81 


\ 


«' 


difficult  to  obtain  it  especially  on  the  month  of  Janu- 
ary, that  is  on  the  moon  which  generally  falls  be- 
tween January  and  February ;  hence  they  called  it 
Onglusamwessit,  on  account  of  their  difficulty  to  ob- 
tain a  subsistence.  They  I.ave  suffered  and  do  yet 
suffer  extremely  in  the  winter,  especially  those  In- 
dians who  at  present  dwell  at  Pleasant  Point,  in  this 
Srate.  It  is  in  this  moon  that  the  red  man  remem- 
bers the  dense  forests  and  the  extensive  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Kennebec,  when  in  a  cold  and  stormy 
night  he  gazes  on  his  dying  lire,  havii-g  burned  the 
last  stick,  which  the  benevolent  tide  has  drifted  on 
the  shore  with  charitable  but  sparing  hand.*  Be- 
numbed and  half  starved  he  falls  asleep  on  his  mat, 
and  dreams  of  the  Mekwas'que  moon  on  the  shores 
of  the  Kennebec. 

When  there  are  thirteen  moons  in  a  year  the 
Indians  count  thirteen  months,  or  moons,  putting  one 
moon  betv/een  Atchittaikizoos  and  Wikkaikizoos, 
that  is  between  the  moons  of  July  and  August, 
which  they  call  Ahonamwlkizoos^  let  this  tnoon  go, 
thus  having  an  intercalary  month  between  July 
and  August.  In  this  case  the  montl%of  July  of 
the  Indians,  that  is,  the  moon  Atchittaikizoos,  begins 
in  our  mouth  of  June,  then  in  our  month  July  be- 
gins the  Indian  month  Abonamwikizoos,  and  the 
Indian  month  of  August  Wikkaikizoos  will  com- 
mence from  the  new  moon  which  falls  in  our  Au- 
gust.    This  coi'rection  in  their  afitronomical  compu- 

*  The  Indians  at  Pleasant  Point  have  no  flro-wood,  except  what 
they  pick  up  ou  the  shore  drifted  by  the  tide  from  the  mills  of  Calais. 


i 


k 


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*■ 


82 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


'I 


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ii 


h 

t'M. 


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rl 


P  ^ 


.1  8 


tation  of  the  moons  will  make  the  year  finish  at  the 
new  moon  ofKetchikizoos — the  new  moon  in  Decem- 
ber before  Christmas.  As  in  some  years  there  are 
two  new  moons  in  December,  and  in  some  others 
there  is  none  before  Christmas,  in  both  cases  the 
new  moon  of  Ketchikizoos,  the  commencement  of 
the  new  year,  is  always  the  new  moon  preceding 
Christmas,  whether  it  falls  in  December  or  in  No- 
vember. It  is  to  be  observed,  that  before  the  pub- 
lication of  the  present  Indian  Almanack  they 
could  not  find  out  that  our  year  had  thirteen  moons 
till  they  arrived  to  the  long  moon  (Ketchikizoos),  or 
near  to  it ;  it  was  only  then  and  not  before  that  time, 
that  they  discovered  it,  and  then  in  their  backward 
calculations,  they  skipped  the  moon  after  that  in 
which  the  berries  were  ripe,  saying  Ahonamwikisoos, 
let  this  moon  go.  The  reason  why  they  skip  that 
moon  rather  than  any  other  in  the  year,  is  because 
in  that  month,  the  nights  being  very  short,  they  can 
dispense  with  it  easier  than  with  other  months  hav- 
ing longer  nights. 

They  had  no  idea  of  the  division  of  time  in  weeks, 
nor  of  the  division  of  the  week  in  seven  days,  hence 
they  have  no  corresponding  name  for  the  word  week. 
The  division  which  they  use  at  present  has  been  in- 
troduced by  the  Europeans,  and  it  is  not  generally 
nnderstood  by  them  even  in  our  days.  Their  present 
division  of  the  days  of  the  week  is  the  following. 


"l^^-.. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


88 


Table. 
Sunday, — Sande^  Sunday"^. 

Monday — T''kissande^  after  Sunday^  or  Amikawa- 
salokke^  first  working  day. 
Tuesday — Nisidaalokka^  second  working  day, 
Wednesday — N^setaalokha^  third  working  day. 
TJiursday — leotaalokka^  fourth  working  day, 
Friday — Skehewatook^  the  day  of  the  cross. 
Saturday — Katausande^  the  day  hefore  Sunday, 

A  week, — Etsi  tanbawanikessughenakkiwighis- 
sajit,  from  seven  to  seven  days  it  is  the  festival  of 
Sunday,  ad  verlum^  it  is  holy.  Although  they  had 
no  division  of  the  month  in  weeks,  and  of  the  week 
in  seven  days,  yet  their  months  or  moons  are  divided 
in  nine  parts,  not  of  the  same  length ;  or  I  would 
rather  say  that  in  each  moon  they  count  nine  phases 
of  unequal  distance  from  each  other.  They  are  the 
following. 

1.  Nangusa^  she  is  born  (the  new  moon). 

2.  Nenaghil,  she  grows  (from  the  fifth  to  the  sixth 
day  of  the  moon). 

3.  Kegan-demeghil^  soon  full  (from  the  eleventh  to 
the  twelfth  day). 

4.  Wemeghil^  she  is  full. 

5.  Pekinem^  after  "being  full  (the  sixteenth,  seven- 
teenth, and  eighteenth  day). 

6.  Utsine^  she  com^mences  to  die  (the  twenty-second 
and  twenty-tliird  day). 

*  From  the  French  word  Saint. 


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84 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


7.  Pebassine,  she  is  half  dead. 

8.  Metchina  v.  Sesemina^  she  is  entirely  dead 
{when  nearly  disappearing). 

9.  Nepa^  she  is  dead  (no  moon). 

They  have  no  standing  numerical  computation,  yet 
'  they  count  by  decades  with  great  correctness.  If  a 
calculation  is  extensive,  after  a  certain  number  of 
decades,  they  put  a  stone  or  piece  of  wood  for  a  mark 
and  commence  counting  again.  They  repeat  it  as 
often  as  they  need  it.  Their  great  events  are  record- 
ed by  a  stone  or  by  a  pictorial  inscription,  but  they 
cannot  mark  the  date,  because,  as  we  have  stated 
above,  they  possess  no  'standing  numerical  computa- 
tion. The  date  is  kept  by  tradition,  but  after  a  num- 
ber of  generations,  it  is  lost  ir  the  darkness  of  time. 

They  do  not  divide  the  day  by  hours,  and  very 
few  even  now  understand  our  division  of  the  day 
into  twenty-four  hours.  Some  of  them  have  clocks 
and  even  watches,  yet  very  few  of  them  can  tell 
the  time.  On  several  occasions  they  have  brought 
me  a  watch  sometimes  going,  but  generally  stopped, 
and  asked  me  to  tell  the  time  of  the  day  by  that 
watch.  I  gave  them  the  time  from  my  watch,  yet 
they  did  not  appear  to  understand  it.  They  go 
by  the  rising,  elevation,  and  setting  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars.  When  I  wanted  an  Indian  at 
any  particular  time,  I  was  obliged  to  express  it  by 
pointing  with  my  hand  the  elevation  of  the  sun  from 
tlie  horizon,  corresponding  to  the  hour  of  the  day. 
They  now  reckon  two  mornings,  which  they  call 
Awinotz-spanswi^  morning  of  the  whites^  and  Alna- 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


85 


dead 


haj/spanswi^  morning  of  the  Indians.  The  former 
is  from  day-light  to  after  sun-rising^  the  latter  is 
about  eight  or  nine  o'clock  am.  making  an  average 
between  summer  and  winter.  In  the  night  they  ob- 
serve the  different  phases  of  the  moon  in  order  to 
make  an  allowance  for  the  change  of  the  time  of  her 
rising. 

Like  us  they  divide  the  astronomical  day  in  day  and 
night,  but  differently  from  us  they  do  not  distribute 
it  into  equal  parts.  They  enumerate  in  the  day  as 
well  as  in  tlie  night  six  unequal  portions,  or  I  may  say 
hours,  v/hich  however  are  longer  or  shorter  accord- 
ing to  the  season.     They  are  the  following. 

Division  of  the  Day. 

1 —  Uspanswiwi^  the  breaking  of  the  day. 

2 — Tse^kwat,  it  is  day, 

3 — Paskwe^  it  is  noon. 

4 — Pedagusse^  it  crosses  the  line  and  goes  on  the 

other  side. 

5 — Nehile^  it  sets. 

6 — MaglangwVlle^  v.  hegan  pesedl^  the  twilight 
{evening). 

Division  of  the  Kight. 

1 — PisJcii,  it  is  night. 

2 — Agwanetepoket,  it  is  after  night. 

3 — AmawitepoJcei,  it  is  before  midnight. 

4 — Epassietepoket^  it  is  midnight. 

5 — Agwamitepoket^  it  is  after  mAdnight. 

6 — Pitsetipoket^  the  night  will  soon  he  over. 

These  are  the  few  Astronomical  notices  w^hicli  I 


k 


'!' 


■h 

1        1 

It     .^ 

I-    , 

MWi  ^ 


d 


86 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTOllY. 


have  collected  from  manuscripts  and  from  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Indians.  I  feel  confident  that  in  pa^t 
generations  the  Indians  had  a  better  acquaintance 
with  the  science  of  Astronomy,  but  since  their  inter- 
course with  the  Europeans,  they  have  undergone  a 
material  deterioration  in  their  physical  as  well  as  in 
their  mental  faculties.  Each  of  them  could  and  can 
yet,  in  some  degree,  rise  and  make  in  public  a  speech 
with  such  solidity  and  natural  eloqueiice  as  to  sur- 
prise even  our  orators,  who  require  study  and  pre- 
paration in  order  to  appear  in  public.  In  former 
times  they  could  converse  amongst  themselves  by 
mere  signs,  and  gesti:;ulations  without  articulated 
sounds.  They  could  send  messages  and  speeches  to 
absent  persons  in  small  pieces  of  wood  or  in  strings 
prepared  with  knots  and  folded,  in  a  bundle,  which 
the  messenger  or  orator  could  deliver  r.y  unfolding 
the  string  from  the  bundle  and  read  the  speech  or 
message,  as  if  it  were  in  a  book.  We  have  yet  a 
more  striking  evidence  of  this  deterioration,  in  the  art 
of  writing  and  reading.  At  the  time  of  the  discovery 
of  the  American  continent,  the  natives  had  a  thorough 
system  of  hand-writing  by  hieroglyphics,  very  much 
like  that  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese.  The  Hie- 
roglyphics of  the  Mexican  Indians  are  well  known 
to  the  literary  world,  but  those  of  the  North-Eastern 
native  Americans,  although  familiar  to  the  Catho- 
lic Missionaries,  yet  had  never  been  noticed  by  the 
antiquarian  and  scientific  men.  A  specimen  of 
them  was  presented  by  me  to  Samuel  F.  Haven, 
Esq.,  the  learned  librarian  of  the  American  Anti- 
quarian Society,  which  he  noticed  in  his  report  at 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


87 


*^l 


the  annual  meeting,  held  at  Worcester  Oct.  12, 1858. 
Another  specimen  also  I  have  exhibited  to  the  Maine 
Historical  Society,  which  was  inserted  in  the  sixth 
volume  of  the  Collections  of  the  same  Society.  But 
lately  the  Rev.  Charles  Kauder,  Missionary  of  the 
Micmacs  at  Tracadie,  !N^ova  Scotia,  zealous  of  the 
salvation  of  the  souls  of  the  poor  Micmac  Indians, 
has  with  indefatigable  labor,  not  only  learned  this 
North-Eastern  Hieroglyphic  language,  but  also  has 
succeeded,  through  his  friends  in  Europe,  in  induc- 
ing the  Austrian  Government  to  print  an  edition  of 
the  Prayer-book  and  Catechism,  written  with  hiero- 
glyphics in  the  Micmac  language.  The  same  Gov- 
ernment further  presented  him  all  the  type  and 
plates,  expressly  cut  and  cast,  for  his  use  in  future 
editions.  The  Government  of  this  State  has  made 
some  efforts  to  teach  the  Indians  to  read  and  write 
English.  But  the  teacher  being  a  foreigner, "^^  teach- 
ing in  a  foreign  language,  and  not  able  to  speak  or 
understand  a  word  of  the  native  American  language, 
has  proved  a  great  failure.  I  have  seen  Indians 
not  able  to  read,  after  having  been  at  school  for 
four  years,  if  we  can  call  going  to  school  the  fashion 
of  the  Indians  in  frequenting  it  for  two  or  three 
days,  sometimes  weeks,  then  growing  tired,  and  fly- 
ing into  the  woods  to  iiunt  and  set  traps  for  wild 
animals.  Another  obstacle  is  the  natural  distrust 
of  the  I.uiians  in  tlie  regard  to  the  white. 

*  The  Kiifrlisli  language  is  foreign  to  tlie  Indians,  and  the  white 
or  black  people,  although  born  in  America,  are  foreigners,  to  them. 


4!' 


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CIIAPTEK  XIL 


DOMESTIC   LIFE. 


tP'N  their  domestic  life  the  Inclians  were  kind  and 
very  hospitable.  They  most  willingly  divi- 
ded their  game  with  their  relations  and  friends. 
The  stranger  was  always  welcome  to  their  table. 
Their  charity  was  not  selfish,  but  sincere  and  true, 
which  in  a  particular  manner  Avas  practised  towards 
the  old  people.  If  an  old  man  had  a  son  killed  in 
war  another  young  man  was  procured  for  him  from 
amongst  the  nation  that  killed  him.  They  were 
strong  and  well  built,  but  like  the  rest  of  the  Indians 
they  did  not  work  mu^'li,  nor  did  they  like  it,  and 
even  at  present  they  have  no  relish  for  labor.  Their 
necessities,  however,  at  that  time  being  very  few,  were 
abundantly  and  easily  supplied  by  hunting  and  fish- 
ing at  proper  seasons.     They  did  not  know  the  cod- 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


89 


fish,  altliongh  it  was  very  abundant  on  tlieir  shores. 
They  were  frugal  and  sober.  Tliey  had  a  kind  of 
liquor  made  of  the  tops  of  tlie  fir-tree,  well  boiled 
and  put  into  casks  with  leaven  or  molassesj  where  it 
fermented  for  two  or  three  days.  After  the  fermen- 
tation was  over,  it  was  left  to  settle,  and  then  it  was 
good  for  use.  They  made  and  still  make  sugar  from 
the  maple-trees,  and  it  is  one  of  their  principal  occu- 
pations and  occasions  of  merrymaking  during  the 
spring. 

Altliough  at  present  their  manner  of  dressing  is 
pretiy  decent,  yet  formerly  both  men  and  women 
went  nearly  bare-footed  and  naked.  The  only 
garment  which  they  wore  was  the  mokkasin,  and  a 
kind  of  gown  to  the  knees  for  the  men,  and  some- 
what longer  for  the  women.  They  did  not  wear  any- 
thing on  their  head.  They  have  never  been  canni- 
bals, but  they  were  docile  and  aifable  in  their  man- 
ners. The  modesty  and  decency  observed  in  their 
families  was  great.  Sisters  and  brothers  behaved 
towards  each  other  with  propriety  and  respect.  The 
brother  abstained  from  any  improper  act*  in  the 
presence  of  the  sister.  A  French  traveller  of  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  to  illustrate  the  great 
reserve  and  modesty  existing  in  the  Indian  families, 
gives  an  instance,  that  in  Nova  Scotia  two  Micmacs, 
brother  and  sister,  went  into  the  woods,  and  the  bro- 
ther retired  into  the  inner  part  of  it  f(»r  some  natu- 
ral act.  On  his  return  to  the  sister,  he  had  on  his 
person  some  stain  of  excrement,  of  which  he  was 


'!i^' 


4   *  Viz :  a  crepitu  ventris,  eructatione,  etc. 

6* 


is 


'^I 


ill  I 


if 


» t 


M 


90 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


unaware.  When  he  was  made  acquainted  with  it 
by  the  sister,  he  felt  so  ashamed  and  confused,  that 
he  returned  into  the  woods  and  hung  liiinself. 

When  a  young  man  wanted  to  marry  a  girl,  he 
went  to  her  father  and  said,  "  '  Id   willingly 

be  admitted  into  your  family."  The  father  would 
answer  that  he  was  to  speak  to  her  mother.  If  the 
young  man  was  a  good  hunter,  the  courtship  was 
soon  over.  Sometimes  it  cost  him  much  to  gain 
the  mistress,  for  he  was  obliged  to  maintain  the 
whole  family  during  a  certain  period  of  time,  and  if 
the  girl  was  very  deserving,  he  had  to  purchase  her 
with  presents.  The  ceremony  was  thus ;  the  father 
would  say  to  the  girl  "  follow  that  young  man,  he  is 
your  husband,"  and  all  was  over.  They  would  go 
away  together  into  the  woods.  After  some  days 
they  would  return  and  they  would  invite  all  the 
neighbors,  who  would  feast  together.  Here  the  fa- 
ther commended  his  son-in-law,  and  recounted  the 
exploits  of  his  forefathers,  and  all  the  company  ap- 
plauded his  choice.  After  their  conversion  to  the 
Catholic  religion,  the  marriage  was  celebrated  in  the 
face  of  the  church,  if  a  priest  was  near;  otherwise 
the  marriage  was  renewed  again,  when  they  had  an 
occasion  to  meet  with  the  priest. 

When  a  woman  was  with  child,  she  informed  her 
husband,  and  he  generally  abstained  from  commerce 
with  her  till  after  the  delivery.  This  was  a  common 
thing.  When  her  menstruation  began,  she  also  in- 
formed her  husbiviid,  and  avoided  approaching  him. 
She  retired  into  the  woods  accompanied  by  another 
woman  to  give  birth  to  a  child,  and  the  midwife  re- 


^1  ii 


^   M 


A:  " 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


91 

navel 


ceived  for  her  trouble  tlie  knife  which  cut  t' 
string.     No  pains  were  suffered  in  childbirth.     The 
new  babe  was  immediately  washed,  either  in  sum- 
mer or  winter.     For  the  first  nourishment  it  took 
the  oil  of  some  fish,  or  melted  tallow  of  some  beast. 
The  infant  was  made  to  swallow  it,  and  afterwards 
it  took  ;iothing  but  the  mother's  milk,  till  it  was 
grown   large   enough  to  feed  like  other  children. 
However  Lescarhat  relates,  that  the  children  were 
forced  to  swallow  grease  and  oil  as  soon  as  they 
were  taken  from  sucking  the  mother's  breast.     If 
the  child  was  a  boy,  there  was  a  great  rejoicing; 
but  they  were  rather  displeased  if  it  was  a  girl. 
When  an  Indian  passing  by  went  into  the  hnt,  and 
seeing  the  new-born  infant,  would  take  it  np  and 
make  much  of  it,  the  parents  would  make  a  present 
to  that  person.     Should  the  child  wet  the  party  that 
held    him,  they  would  make   another  present  for 
reparation.   If  a  woman  while  nursing  became  preg- 
nant, she  would  cause  an  abortion  by  taking  a  po- 
tion, saying  that  they  could  not  nurse  two  children 
at  the  same  time.     The  women  were  very  fruitful. 
Few  houses  were  without  five  or  six  children.   Some 
couples  had  eighteen  children,  while  still  of  age  to 
have  more.      The   women  were  treated  hard,  and 
like  servants.     They  were  seldom  known  to  be  false 
to  their  husbands,  but  if  a  woman  was   taken   in 
adultery  she  was  in  danger  of  her  life.     Single  wo- 
men, however,  were  not  much  noticed  in  criminal 
intercourse.   Young  people  were  chaste.  They  were 
equally  entitled  to  the  estate  of  the  parents.     Only 
merit  raised  a  man  to  honor.    There  was  ^""^'  inheri- 


i: 


■' 


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, 

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92 


THE  ABNAKIS  :   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


tance  or  birthriglit,  and  when  one  was  once  raised 
to  honor,  he  was  never  removed,  nnless  it  were  for 
some  heinons  oft'encc.  They  never  liad  nor  have 
even  at  present,  family  names,  hence  the  difficulty 
of  tracing  their  families.  The  el-dest  son  took  the 
name  of  the  father  with  the  addition  of  the  syllable 
sis,  which  means  son,  v.  g.  if  the  father  was  called 
I^iol  (Peter),  the  first  son  was  called  Piolsis  (son  of 
Peter).  The  second  son  took  another  name.  The 
third  took  the  name  of  the  second  with  the  addi- 
tion of  a  syllable  to  the  end  of  it,  and  so  forth 
with  the  others.  The  first  daughter  took  the 
name  of  the  mother  with  the  addition  of  the  syllable 
sis  in  the  same  manner  as  with  the  sons.  The 
second  daughter  took  another  name.  The  third 
took  the  name  of  the  second  with  the  addition 
of  a  syllable  and  so  forth.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that 
the  particle  sis  afiT.ied  to  a  name  is  nothing  but  a 
diminutive,  viz.  Sahsis,  little  James,  Maliesis^  little 
Mary.  But  if  this  particle  be  affixed  to  a  first  born, 
then  it  means  son  or  daughter.  If  there  are  two 
names,  and  this  particle  be  found  affixed  to  the  se- 
cond name,  it  also  means  son.  In  this  case  this  par- 
ticle is  always  affixed  to  the  name  of  the  father  and 
not  to  that  of  tlie  son,  viz.  Plansoa  Mlzelsis,  Fran- 
cis, son  of  Michael  ;  Sahatis  JEtiensis,  John  Bap- 
tist, son  of  Stephen.  The  particle  que,  affixed  to  a 
name,  means  wife,  and  it  is  always  affixed  to  the 
name  of  the  husband  and  not  to  that  of  the  wife ; 
thus,  Malie  TJiomaimsqxie,  Mary  the  wife  of  Tho- 
mas (the  syllable  wi  is  for  the  sake  of  euphony). 
"Whei;  the  particle  sis  is  added  to  qxie^  thus  qxiesis^  it 


i  I 


SS.. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


93 


■'!.' 


it 


means  djinghter,  viz.  Scsil  Etiennisqueais^  Cecilia 
the  daughter  of  Stephen.  If  instead  of  ,v2,v,  tliey 
place  the  particle  peun^  thus  qucpeun^  it  means  wid- 
ow, viz.,  Malie  KHchi  Nwolawisquepeun^  Mary  the 
widow  of  old  Nicolas. 

The  first  time  that  the  son  killed  any  game,  they 
liad  an  entertainment  for  the  whole  family  and  neigh- 
boring savages.  If  they  were  into  the  woods,  they 
waited  for  their  return,  and  dried  the  meat  to  pre- 
serve it.  The  young  hunter  and  his  parents  did  not 
taste  the  game,  but  they  thought  honorable  to  dis- 
tribute it  to  the  company.  They  had  a  parti- 
cular ceremony  for  this  occasion.  They  shouted 
and  sang  in  honor  of  the  young  hunter.  All 
that  he  killed  whilst  very  young,  was  given 
away  to  others,  to  show  his  dexterity  and  courage. 
They  made  a  feast  also,  when  the  child  cut  the  first 
tooth. 

At  their  feasts,  tiiey  ahvays  killed  the  best  and 
most  valuable  hunting-dog,  and  they  spared  no- 
thing to  make  the  entertainment  good  and  agreeable. 
Very  often,  however,  the  feast  w^as  mingled  with 
weeping.  Some  old  doting  Indian  woman  in  the 
midst  of  the  rejoicing  called  to  mind,  that  some 
twenty  or  thirty  years  before,  she  had  a  son  killed. 
Then  some  of  the  guests  would  take  compassion,  and 
promise  revenge,  and  never  to  give  up,  till  he  had 
killed  some  of  that  nation,  to  which  the  murderer 
belonged.  He  then  would  bring  his  head  to  her 
for  her  to  eat. 

As  soon  as  a  father  of  family  expired,  he  was 
taken  from  the  wigwam,  which  was  immediately 


%. 


I  ■ 


94 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


set  to  fire  tOj^etlier  with  all  the  contents,  which  prac- 
tice of  burning  the  contents  of  the  wigwam  belong- 
ing to  the  deceased,  exists  yet  to  some  extent  amongst 
them.  Then  every  person  gave  thts  corpse  a  present 
of  the  best  things  that  they  had,  and  which  were  used 
to  ornament  the  grave  inside  and  outside.  They  em- 
balmed the  bodies  of  the  dead,  after  extracting  the 
bowels.  Mourning  consisted  in  painting  themselves 
black  and  in  uttering  great  lamentations.  Their 
tombs  resembled  those  of  other  Indian  nations.  "We 
know  that  the  tomb  of  a  priest  who  died  in  the  year 
1716  was  covered  with  a  kind  of  arbor,  and  instead 
of  a  tombstone,  they  put  a  heap  of  pebbles,  placed 
in  decent  order.  "Whether  this  manner  of  covering 
the  graves  was  used  for  all  persons  of  great  distinc- 
tion, or  only  for  the  priest,  we  cannot  be  certain. 
It  might  have  been  a  case  only  for  the  interment  of 
this  priest,  as  we  do  not  read  that  it  had  been  prac- 
tised with  others.  — 


If 


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i 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PRESENT   CONDITION   OF  THE   INDIANS. 

>AYING  given  a  few  historical  notices  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Acadia,  I  think  pro- 
per to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  present 
native  Americans  of  the  State  of  Maine  and  British 
Provinces,  which,  with  a  part  of  Lower  Canada, 
covers  all  the  ground  formerly  called  Acadia.  In 
the  State  of  Maine  there  are  two  small  tribes  of  about 
five  hundred  individuals  each,  called  the  Penobscot 
and  the  Passamaquoddy  tribes.  The  former  live  on 
several  islands  of  the  Penobscot  River,  the  latter  on 
the  western  shore  of  the  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  and 
on  the  Schoodic  Lakes.  The  Penobscot  Indians  have 
a  small  and  rather  good-looking  village  on  an  island 
called  Indian  Island,  opposite  to  Old-Town.     This 


,1'  ^ 


is 


I 


96 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


village  is  composed  of  about  thirty  wooden  houses, 
some  of  wliich  are  well  and  neatly  l)nilt.  It  has  a 
Catholic  church,  a  townhall,  and  a  school-house. 
This  village  is  regularly  built  on  the  southern  shore 
of  the  island,  with  a  square  between  the  church,  the 
townhall,  school-house,  and  two  rows  of  houses  on 
the  northern  side.  The  graveyard  is  on  a  neck  of 
land  between  two  parts  of  the  village.  There  are 
besides  several  houses  scattered  on  the  island. 

The  church  is  good  looking  and  well  built,  with  a 
steeple  and  a  bell  to  it,  and  is  dedicated  to  St. 
Anne.  It  was  built  about  thirty  years  ago  by  Rev. 
Yirgil  Barber,  who  succeeded  Rev.  Mr.  Romagn^ 
in  the  charge  of  the  Penobscot  Mission,  and  occu- 
pies nearly  the  samo  site  as  the  old  church,  built 
by  Rev.  John  Louis  Lefebvre  Cheverus,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Boston,  and  Cardinal.  In  the  inside,  there 
is  a  gallery  for  singers,  pews,  and  a  good  sanctuary. 
Over  the  altar  there  is  an  altar-piece  representing 
the  Assumption  of  the  B.  Y.  Mary  of  nearly  life- 
size,  rising  from  the  tomb  where  she  had  been  de- 
posited ;  it  is  a  European  painting  and  well  exe- 
cuted. There  is  also  an  oil  painting  on  canvas 
representing  in  life-size  St.  Francis  of  Assisi.  It  is 
an  old  European  work,  of  an  unknown  but  good 
artist.  There  is  also  a  picture  of  St.  Anne  teaching 
the  B.  V.  Mary  lo  read,  and  a  few  other  paintings 
of  little  consequence.  But  the  Indians  value  very 
highly  an  oil  painting  representing  the  Crucifixion 
of  our  Saviour,  made  by  an  Indian,  who  had  never 
had  any  instruction  whatever.  It  is  neither  elegant 
nor  well  executed,  yet  it  is  a  specimen  of  what  an 


see. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


97 


an 


Indian  can  do  without  education,  and  without  hav- 
ing studied  the  manner  of  preparing  and  mixing 
the  colors  in  oil.  The  interior  of  the  church  is  orna- 
mented according  to  Indian  taste. 

The  priest's  house  is  attached  to  the  church,  and 
it  was  repaired  last  year,  as  it  was  in  a  very  dilapi- 
dated condition.  At  these  places  the  Indians  behave 
with  great  respect.  An  act  of  disrespect  manifested 
by  any  visitor  either  in  the  church  or  at  the  priest's 
house  is  felt  by  them  as  a  great  insult,  although  it 
may  not  have  been  the  intention  of  the  stranger  to 
give  any  such  offence.  If  a  Protestant  enters  their 
church,  and  comports  himself  properly,  he  is  treated 
politely  ;  but  if  he  bdiaves  rudely,  forgetting  that  he 
is  in  the  house  of  God,  omits  uncovering  the  head, 
or  laughs,  talks,  and  so  forth,  either  the  sexton  or 
some  other  Indian  approaches  him,  and  without  any 
other  ceremony  removes  the  hat  from  his  head  with 
a  blow,  but  without  uttering  a  word.  One  evening 
while  the  members  of  the  choir  were  practising  at 
the  priest's  house,  some  strangers  asked  permission 
to  be  present,  which  was  granted  to  them,  but  in 
entering  the  room  they  kept  their  hats  on.  The  In- 
dians took  offence  at  it,  and  refused  to  sing  as  long 
as  the  strangers  were  present. 

Tiieir  feelings  are  easily  hurt,  but  generally  they 
do  not  show  it,  although  oftentimes  they  may  appear 
rude.  I  give  an  instance  of  it.  One  afternoon  I  cross- 
ed the  river,  and  in  landing  on  the  island,  I  found 
there  two  ladies,  who  were  very  much  excited 
against  the  Indians.  They  approached  me  and  com- 
plained very  bitterly  of  them,  saying  that  they  had 


; "! 


4 
'1  I' A 


*  r 
r 


■ 

m^' 

f 

•rl 

I 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1         ; 

1 

1        '^ 

i 

^1' 

m  ' 

I    f     i 

••t 


98 


THE  ABNAKIS:    AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


crossed  over  the  island  to  visit  tiiem,  but  that  some 
squaws  had  treated  them  rudely  by  putting  them  out 
of  the  liouse.  I  apologized  for  them,  and  I  offered 
to  accompany  them  myself  to  visit  any  part  of  the 
village,  that  they  desired  to  see,  which  \vas  done. 
Afterwards  I  sent  for  those  Indian  women  to  inquire 
about  this  impolite  manner  of  treating  strangers,  no 
matter  to  what  denomination  they  may  belong,  but  I 
found  the  statement  of  things  to  be  quite  different. 
The  case  had  been  the  following.  Tlie  ladies,  without 
any  ceremony,  had  entered  the  house  of  these  Indians, 
while  they  were  taking  their  meal.  The  manner  in 
which  they  were  helping  themselves  without  using 
forks  and  knives,  eating  on  the  floor  without  chairs 
and  table,  eating  from  a  common  large  wooden  dish, 
without  napkins  and  table-cloths;  the  manner  in 
which  the  food  was  prepared,  their  negligence  in  ob- 
serving those  rules  generally  adopted  by  white  peo- 
ple at  table,  did  viot  suit  the  taste  of  the  visitors.  Tlie 
ladies  began  to  sneer,  and  then  they  lauglied,  and 
continued  to  do  so,  till  some  squaws  got  up  and  put 
the  ladies  out  of  the  door.  I  know  from  my  own 
observations,  that  the  Indiana  are  very  civil  to  visi- 
tors, especially  when  they  do  not  forget  that  they 
are  amongst  Indians. 

They  are  all  Catholics  not  only  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  but  also  in  all  the  British  Provinces  and 
Canada,  and  with  few  exceptions  they  are  all  good 
Christians,  of  strong  faith,  and  stand  firmly  by  their 
religion.  The  Catholics  of  Ban«:or  in  time  of  need 
have  several  times  been  assisted  by  the  Indians  of 
Oldtown.      When  the  old  St.  Michael's  Church  at 


tie 
ut 
ed 
he 
le. 


m 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


99 


Bangor,*  was  built,  a  set  of  bigoted  fanatics  of  that 
city  threatr*\ed  to  pull  \c  down,  and  the  day  had  been 
appointed  to  p  jrforin  this  disgraceful  and  profane  ac- 
tion. At  that  time  the  Catholics  were  too  few  in 
that  city,  and  they  were  not  able,  to  protect  the 
church,  but  the  Indians  came  from  Old-Town,  armed 
with  guns,  clubs,  and  tomahawks,  paraded  on  the 
front  of  the  church  in  the  street,  and  defied  the 
rioters  to  touch  it.  This  firmness  of  the  Indians 
prevented  the  mob  from  gathering  and  doing  any 
harm  to  the  church,  and  saved  Bangor  from  a  dis- 
grace which  would  have  tarnished  for  ever  the  an- 
nals of  that  city,  whiph  has  never  been  stained 
by  a  disgraceful  act  of  bigotry,  but  has  always 
contributed  to  the  fame  and  pride  of  the  children 
of  the  Pine  State.  The  Indians  used  to  go  from 
Old-Town  to  Bangor,  to  sing  on  Sunday  at  old  St. 
Michael's,  and  the  first  leader  ot  the  choir  w^as  an 
Indian,  who  took  great  care  and  interest  in  instruct- 
ing the  singers.  There  are  people  yet  living  in 
Bangor,  who  have  been  instructed  by  Salomon 
Swassin,  the  Indian  above  mentioned.  He  died 
four  years  ago  and  lies  buried  at  Old-town. 

The  reason  why  some  of  the  Indians  are  not  as 
good  as  the  rest  of  the  tribe,  is  owing  to  their  mix- 
ing too  much  -with  the  white  people,  and  the  gene- 
ral misfortune  of  the  Indians  in  coming  in  contact 
with  them  is  that  they  contract  all  the  vices  of  the 
whites,  without  learning  any  of  their  virtues.     This 

*  Tins  was  the  first  Catholic  church  at  Bangor,  in  Court  street.  It 
was  sold  last  year,  because  it  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  and  no 
more  needed.    A  large  new  church  has  been  built  ou  York  street. 


Hi 


>  !il 


^'^1 


Ft 


100 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


!        'f! 


W  !l 


11 


i  ! 


fact  has  always  been  observed  and  acknowledged  by 
all  persons  familiar  with  the  native  Americans,  al- 
though they  are  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it.  Yet  I 
do  not  wonder  in  reflecting,  what  class  of  white  peo- 
ple the  unfortunate  Indians  come  in  contact  with. 
When  the  Indians  first  met  with  tlie  Catholic 
missionaries,  they  divested  themselves  of  many  sav- 
age customs  and  vices,  and  learned  many  moral  .and 
Christian  virtues.  They  improved  their  condition, 
and  learned  some  civilization  under  the  standard  of 
the  Cross.  But  these  missionaries  were  virtuous  peo- 
ple, and  the  proper  persons  to  teach  theui  good 
moral  habits.  Afterwards  these  Indians  unluckily 
came  in  contact  with  the  worst  class  of  society,  and 
with  people  of  the  loosest  habits,  of  no  manners, 
without  religion,  or  disgracing  the  religion  which 
they  professed.  From  these  they  have  learned 
swearing,  cursing,*  stealing,  drinking,  licentiousness, 
disrespect  and  contempt  for  God,  his  ministers,  and 
for  religion,  thereby  their  faith  becomes  weak.  We 
see  the  truth  of  it,  when  we  reflect  that  the  worst  In- 
dians are  those  who  go  wandering  about  the  coimtry 
and  mix  with  people  of  the  above  mentioned  charac- 
ter. To  this  adding  that  they  are  neither  scholars 
nor  theologians,  hence  incapable  of  discerning  be- 
tween an  argument  and  a  sophism.  Several  In- 
dians who  pass  for  Protestant,  and  who  themselves 
profess  to  be  such,  in  reality  are  not  Protestants,  but 
Catholics,  and  sometimes  very  good  Catholics  also. 

*  It  is  worth  noticing  that  the  Indian  language  has  no  word  or 
expression  to  swear  or  curse.  Wlieri  the  Indians  swear  or  curse  they 
do  it  in  English. 


by 

al- 
etl 
peo- 
ith. 
olic 
sav- 
and 
ion, 
dof 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


lOi 


According  to  their  notions  they  do  not  deem  it  to 
be  a  falsehood  on  some  occasions  not  to  tell  the  truth 
nor  to  deny  the  faith  by  saying  they  are  Protes- 
tants, when  asked  by  persons  who  have  no  right 
to  question  them.  I  give  an  instance  of  it.  When 
they  go  around  the  country  selling  baskets,  mats, 
and  such-like  articles,  they  enter  the  house  of  some 
bigoted  man,  who  objects  to  purchase  baskets  from 
them  on  account  of  their  religion ;  then  ensues  the 
following  dialogue  between  them  : 

Protestant, — "You  are  a  Catholic,  I  do  not  want  to 
buy  baskets  from  j^ou." 

Indian. — "Me  no  Catholic." 

Protestant — "  Yes,  you  are  Catholic,  you  belong 
to  the  Old-Town  Indians." 

Indian. — "Yes  me  Old-Town  Indian,  but  me 
no  Catholic,  me  once  Catholic,  but  now  Protes- 
tant." 

The  bargain  being  concluded,  on  leaving  the 
house  or  store,  the  Indians  (who  generally  are  two 
together  in  selling)  laugh  amongst  themselves,  and 
say  "  me  cheat  white  folks,  he  think  me  Protestant, 
me  no  Protestant,  me  always  Catholic,  here  my 
beads  (they  pull  the  beads  or  a  medal  and  show  it  to 
each  other)."  The  difficulty  of  learning  the  Indian 
language,  makes  it  difficult  for  missionaries  to  in- 
struct them,  hence  they  are  not  well  grounded  in 
their  catechism,  and  we  cannot  reasonably  expect 
from  them,  what  we  deem  proper  to  require  from 
the  white  people,  whose  language  is  possessed  fully 
bv  their  missionaries. 

The  schools  introduced  amongst  them  by  direction 


i 

I 

■ 
■ 


.1 


Ay 


I;!       i 


102 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


M^ 


of  the  government  are  a  complete  failure,  not  only 
because  a  foreigner  altogether  ignorant  of  the  native 
American  languages  teaches  the  Indians,  but  also 
because  the  teacher  selected  by  the  government  be- 
ing generally  an  American  Protestant  does  not  en- 
joy their  confidence,  all  Americans  being  looked 
"npon  by  them  with  great  distrust.  On  several  occa- 
sions I  have  been  obliged  to  go  from  house  to 
house  to  take  the  children  to  school.  There  are 
children,  who  have  frequented  the  school  for  years, 
who  are  not  capable  of  spelling  a  word  of  two  syl- 
lables. Yet  there  are  Indians  who  know  how  to 
read  well,  and  some  are  capable  of  writing.  But 
the  credit  of  it  is  due  to  the  late  Yirgil  Barber, — 
a  missionary  who  resided  amongst  them  for  ten 
years,  and  whose  memory  remains  in  benediction 
amongst  them.  He  was  formerly  an  Episcopal 
Minister,  became  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  Church 
— was  ordained  Priest,  and  sent  to  Old-Town  to 
take  charge  of  the  Penobscot  Indians.  He  worked 
amongst  them  with  great  zeal  and  perseverance, 
taught  their  school,  and  his  labors  were  crowned 
with  success.  Those  India.18  taught  by  him  are 
all  well  instructed.  Rev.  John  Bapst  also  deserves 
credit  for  having  instructed  them,  but  unfortunately 
he  was  not  encouraged  by  the  Government.  The 
scanty  annual  salary  of  fifty  dollars  allowed  by  the 
Government  from  the  Indian  funds  for  the  support 
of  the  Pastor  was  withdrawn  from  him,  as  also  the 
payment  for  teaching  school*.     Against  the  wishes 

*  I  am  informed  by  an  honest  agent  of  the  Indians,  that  the  salary 
of  the  schoolmaster  and  of  the  agent  of  the  Indians  should  be  taken, 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


103 


of  the  most  of  the  Trihe  a  Protestant  teacher  was 
forced  upon  the  Indians.  The  division  of  parties 
stimulated  by  some  malicious  person  to  make  prose- 
lytes of  them,  all  concurred  to  check  this  effort  in 


teaching  them. 


not  from  the  fund  belonging  to  the  Indians,  but  from  the  State,  yet 
both  schoolmaster  and  agent  are  paid  with  money  belonging  to  the 
Indians. 


m  \ 

Hi 


'I!: 


r 


M      '  i 


f^-         % 


6' 


CHAPTEE  XIY. 

DIVISION    OF   PARTIES   AMONGST   THE   INDIANS   OF   MAINE 
— INDIANS   OF  THE   BRITISH   PROVINCES. 

XT  is  not  improper  here  to  relate  the  origin  of  the 
division  of  parties  amongst  the  Indians  at  Old- 
Town,  which  has  been  the  cause  of  many  cala- 
mities amongst  them,  of  their  decline  and  ruin,  and 
it  will  continue  to  work  their  utter  destruction,  if  an 
end  shall  not  be  put  to  their  childish  dissensions. 

The  commencement  of  the  division  of  the  Penob- 
scot Tribe  was  caused  by  the  scandalous  conduct  of 
their  chief  Atien  Swassin.  He  was  accused  of 
drunkenness,  adultery,  and  other  crimes.  He  was 
called  to  an  account  in  public  council.  There  he  w^as 
convinced  of  the  truths  of  these  accusations,  he  was 
removed  from  office,  and  another  Indian  was  elected 


U 


Lf-i 
to 


o 


s 

OC 


ii  Kil 


'I' 


I 


^1 


I 


k' 


t 


'   I 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR   HISTORY. 


105 


to  be  tlie  Sangman  of  the  Tribe.  The  friends 
and  relatives  of  the  old  Governor  stood  by  him,  so 
the  tribe  became  divided,  having  two  Governors  and 
two  sets  of  officers.  Those  who  had  elected  a  new 
Sachem  called  themselves  New  Party ;  the  others 
who  stood  by  the  old  Governor  were  called  Old 
Party.  This  was  the  original  cause  of  their  division, 
although  other  things  were  added  afterwards  to  dis- 
tinguish one  party  from  the  other.  They  raised  two 
liberty  poles  near  each  other,  and  two  flags  in  oppo- 
sition. 

This  division  naturally  was  the  source  of  many 
animosities  amongst  them.  Quarrels,  dissensions,  and 
fights  became  very  common.  Finally  they  sent  mes- 
sengers to  the  Passamaquoddy,  St.  John,  Caughna- 
waga,  St.  Francis,  and  other  tribes  of  Canada  and 
other  British  possessions,  inviting  them  to  come  to 
Old-Town  and  assist  them  in  a  fight  which  w^as  to  take 
place  on  the  island.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
wicked  Indians,  who  joined  the  Old  Party,  all  tho 
tribes  not  only  refused  to  give  them  assistance  in  the 
fight,  but  advised  them  to  desist  ^from  this  evil  de- 
sign and  to  make  peace.  Six  confederate  tribes  of 
Canada  held  a  council  in  Caughnawaga,  called  tho 
Great-fire  Council  from  the  name  of  tlie  tribes,  and 
the  disturbances  at  Old-Town  w^ere  the  subject  of 
the  discussion.  The  Chreatfire  Council  censured 
the  Old  Party,  notwithstanding  the  fiery  remon- 
strances of  Governor  Francis  of  the  Passama- 
quoddy Indians  at  Pleasant  Point,  who  denounced 
the  New  Party,  abused  them,  and  made  every  eff'ort 

to  bend  the  decision  of  the  assembly  in  favor  of  tho 

6 


!i« 


IS! 

1    i* 


•I 
1 


F 


i'    -■     ilr 


I      1' 

■k 


I 


106 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


\h 


m 


rn^m 


Old  Party.  The  Great-fire  Council  sent  two  mes- 
Bengers  from  Canada  with  a  letter  to  the  Penobscot 
tribe,  complaining  of  the  many  scandals  and  evils 
perpetrated  by  them,  of  the  disgrace  which  they  had 
brought  not  only  upon  themselves  and  their  children, 
but  also  upon  tlie  six  confederate  tribes  of  the  Great- 
fire,  They  advised  them  to  make  peace  amongst  them- 
Belves,  to  treat  each  other  like  brothers  and  to  be 
docile  to  the  voice  of  their  Pastor,  who  was  for 
peace  and  brotherly  love. 

The  influence  of  the  council  and  of  their  priest, 
Kev.  John  Bapst,  induced  them  to  agree  to  abolish 
both  parties.     Both  governors  consented  to  resign, 
both  liberty  poles  were  to  be  cut  down,  and  the}'  were 
to  elect  a  new  governor.    All  Indians  for  the  sake  of 
peace  agreed  to  it,  and  a  day  was  appointed  for  this 
general  reconciliation.    The  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpa- 
trick,  Bishop  of  Boston,  whose  jurisdiction  at  that  time 
extended  over  the  State  o^  Maine,  was  invited  to  per- 
form this  ceremony.    The  leaders  of  the  New  Party 
were  honest  and  sincere,  but  the  three  leaders  of  the 
Old  Party  were  not  so.     Piel  Sakkis  and  the  leaders 
of  the  Old  Party  had  agreed  to  lot  the  N'sw  Party 
first  cut  down  their  liberty  pole,  and  then  prevent  any 
one  touching  theirs.     The  day  appointed   arrived. 
The  Bishop  of  Boston  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bapst  were  there 
on  the  island.     They  erected  a  large  cross  near  the 
church  with  the  inscription,  Pogo  id  omnes  unum 
sinty  1  pray  that  they  all  may  he  one,  St.  John  xvii. 
Indians  were  appointed   to   demolish    both    liber- 
ty poles.     They  first  cut  down  the  pole  of  the  New 
Party,  but  when  they  were  about  btriking  with  the 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


107 


axe  into  the  pole  of  the  Old  Party,  the  three  leaders 
rushed  to  the  pole,  and  clasped  it  in  their  arms, 
crying  that  they  would  not  let  it  be  cut  down. 
The  Indians  appointed  endeavored  to  demolish  this 
pole,  but  they  could  not  strike  it  without  cutting 
the  arms  of  the  three  Indians  who  held  it.  They 
were  ready  to  strike,  but  this  would  have  resulted 
in  a  bloody  fight,  and  even  in  loss  of  life.  Hence 
the  Bishop  and  Pastor  thought  prudent  to  stop  the 
Indians  from  going  further.  They  denounced  the 
duplicity  of  the  leaders  of  the  Old  Party,  who 
were  excommunicated  on  the  spot.  The  Bishop 
advised  the  New  Party  to  keep  quiet  and  peaceful 
and  to  have  patience.  He  gave  directions  to  the 
pastor  to  see  what  he  could  do  with  them,  and  if  he 
thought  proper,  even  to  quit  them,  and  he  left  in 
disgust.* 

On  this  the  Old  Party  people  became  bold  and  in- 
solent. The  New  Party  could  not  live  in  peace  any 
longer  on  the  island,  and  it  was  even  unsafe  for  a  well 
disposed  and  peaceful  person  to  go  to  the  Indian  is- 
land. The  priest  himself  could  not  live  pleasantly 
amongst  them.  He  was  considered  by  the  Old  Party 
Indians  to  side  with  the  New  Party,  hence  he  was 
treated  by  them  with  suspicion  and  distrust.  The 
Rev.  James  Moore  returning  from  his  mission  of  the 
Passamaquoddy  Indians,  was  accompanied  by  some 
canoes  manned  by  Indians  of  that  tribe,  and  while 


•  One  of  the  excommunicated  repented,  and  having  written  a  letter 
of  repentance  and  apology  to  the  Birshop,  was  absolved  from  the 
excommunication.  Piel  Sakkis  followed  his  example.  The  third  is 
yet  ezcommunicatod. 


[.,  ^ISftf; 

!         '     .;' 

i            1' 

5 


I 


108 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


they  were  approaching  the  shores  of  the  Penobscot 
Indians'  island,  some  of  the  Old  Party  saw  these  canoes 
with  strange  Indians,  and  Fatlier  Moore  with  thera, 
who  was  not  aware  of  their  recent  troubles,  and  they 
thought  that  he  was  coming  with  those  Indians  to  as- 
sist the  New  Party  to  fight  the  old  one.  They  went 
to  the  shore  and  disputed  their  landing  till  they  had 
signed  a  paper  in  favor  of  the  Old  Party.  Rev.  J. 
Moore,  however,  had  already  landed,  saying  to  them 
that  he  would  not  trouble  himself  about  their  party 
quarrels.  Things  were  rendered  still  worse  by 
the  instigations  of  some  Sectarians  who  availed 
themselves  of  this  opportunity  to  fill  the  ears  of 
the  poor  Old  Party  Indians  with  malicious  stories, 
saying  that  the  priest  was  against  them,  preventing 
their  progress,  enlightenment,  and  education ;  that 
they  should  have  a  Portestant  teacher,  who  would  be 
the  only  one  fit  to  instruct  them,  and  all  such  things 
which  found  believers  amongst  the  ignorant  Old- 
Party.  Afiairs  having  reached  the  highest  pitch 
of  disorder,  the  pastor  advised  the  E^ew  Party, 
who  were  peaceful  and  well  disposed,  to  quit  Old- 
Town,  and  to  go  to  Canada  and  to  live  amongst  the 
Caughnawaga  and  St.  Francis  Indians,  where  they 
could  be  in  peace  and  quiet,  coula  practise  their  reli- 
gion, and  their  children  could  be  better  instructed. 
They  followed  this  advice,  and  left  for  Canada.  Rev. 
Mr.  Bapst  also  quitted  Old-Town,  and  retired  to  East- 
port,  where  he  took  charge  of  the  Passamaquoddy 
tribe. 

Their  village  now  was  deserted  by  half  of  the  tribe, 
the  church  and  priest's  house  were  closed,  and  no 


5 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


109 


more  service  was  lield  on  the  island.  This  was  a 
favorable  opportunity  for  some  of  the  Protestants, 
who  desired  to  proselytize  the  Indians,  and  who  had 
for  several  years  made  useless  attempts  for  this  object. 
Protestant  ministers  now  went  to  the  island  several 
times  to  preach  to  them,  but  they  could  not  persuade 
a  single  Indian  to  listen  to  them.  They  insinuated 
to  them,  that  since  the  priest  had  left  them  and  that 
since  they  could  no  longer  perform  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, and  in  conscience  being  bound  to  attend  a  re- 
ligion, they  might  join  the  Protestant  denomination, 
which  was  as  good  as  the  Catholic,  if  not  better,  be- 
cause they  could  not  please  the  Great  Spirit  without 
professing  a  religion.  He  promised  that  their  minis- 
ter would  go  on  the  island  to  preach  to  them,  and 
the  Indians  were  requested  to  open  the  church,  so 
that  the  service  might  take  place  in  their  church. 
But  they  were  very  much  disappointed.  The  Old 
Party  Indiana,  bad  as  they  were,  would  not  listen  to 
the  preacher,  they  refused  to  open  the  church,  and 
they  told  plainly,  that  they  would  rather  set  the  church 
on  fire,  than  to  see  it  occupied  by  a  Protestant  minis- 
ter; "even  if  we  were  to  open  it,"  they  said,  "he 
would  have  only  the  benches  to  preach  at,  as  no  In- 
dian would  ever  go  to  listen  to  him."  These  gen- 
tlemen, however,  continued  devising  means  to  in- 
duce the  Indians  to  abandon  the  Catholic  religion. 
They  fancied  to  have  a  better  success,  if  they  would 
Bend  a  preacher  of  a  native-American  race.  They 
found  an  apostate  belonging  to  the  remains  of  the 
Iroquois  tribes  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of 
Kew  York.    This  they  sent  to  Old-Town  to  preach  to 


;-f; 


■■':..    4 


i"    ii 

■  ■r 
, 

it,     ; 

'<    i  ■ 

'■■  Vi 

Ii 

1 

ill 

|; . 

^  1 

! 

<^    w 

' '  1 

■      '» 

^ 

1 

k;    > 

110 


THE  ABNAEIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


the  Penobscot  Indians,  but  it  was  another  complete 
failure,  because  the  Indians  threatened  him  to  throw 
him  into  the  Penobscot  river,  if  he  would  put  again 
a  foot  on  the  island. 

The  Indians  remained  without  a  priest  for  the  space 
of  three  or  four  years,  and  although  they  had  been 
occasionally  visited,  especially  in  case  of  sickness,  by 
Rev.  James  Moore,  Rev.  J.  Force  and  other  mission- 
aries, yet  no  service  had  been  held  on  the  island. 
During  this  time  not  only  none  of  them  changed  their 
religion,  but  also  none  of  them  was  even  seen  putting 
a  foot  into  any  of  the  Protestant  churches  which  are 
numerous  in  Old-Town.  They  went  now  and  then 
across  the  river  to  attend  Mass  at  the  Canadian 
church  of  that  place. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  I  was  sent  to  attend 
the  Eastern  Missions  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and  espe- 
cially to  visit  the  Indians.  I  ^lid  not  desire  to  go  di- 
rectly to  them,  but  I  was  seeking  for  a  favorable  op- 
portunity to  see  them,  which  was  presented  to  me 
while  I  was  at  Old-Town.  One  Sunday  after  Mass, 
while  I  was  yet  in  the  church  of  the  Irish  i,ud  Cana- 
dians, some  Indian  women  requested  me  to  go  across 
to  their  island  in  order  to  baptize  some  children.  At 
first  I  refused,  saying  that  I  would  not  put  a  foot  on 
an  island,  which  was  so  much  deliled  by  so  many 
crimes  perpetrated  by  the  Indians,  who  were  in  re 
hellion  against  God  and  His  church,  and  who  had 
been  abandoned  by  the  priest.  They  apologized,  pro- 
testing that  they  had  given  no  cause  for  it,  and  that 
they  were  sorry  for  what  had  taken  place.  After 
this  explanation  I  consented  to  go  on  the  afternoon. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


Ill 


When  on  the  island,  I  walked  directly  to  tbe  vacant 
house  of  the  priest.  I  examined  every  thing  both  at 
the  house  and  church,  and  I  found  that  nothing  had 
been  disturbed,  but  every  thing  was  at  its  own  place. 
After  having  baptized  the  children  I  prepared  my- 
self to  recross  the  river,  but  the  Indians  insisted  that 
I  should  spend  the  night  with  them,  which  invitation 
I  accepted  after  some  objections. 

In  the  evening  I  gathered  them  at  the  church,  and 
I  gave  them  an  exhortation,  exposing  to  them  their 
miserable  condition,  and  in  a  particular  manner  I  de- 
scribed their  degeneration  from  their  ancestors.     I 
appealed  strongly  to  their  feelings,  to  bring  them  to 
a  change  of  life.    This  exhortation  had  the  desired 
effect.    In  the  evening  I  was  visited  by  several  Indi- 
ans, who  with  a  cool  slyness — their  great  character- 
istic, questioned  me,  or  rather  I  underwent  a  thorougli 
examination  about  my  politics  in  regard  to  the  par- 
ties, about  school  matters,  and  such  like,  for  which  I 
was  well  prepared.     During  the  night  they  held  a 
council,  and  in  the  morning  they  sent  me  a  delega- 
tion, which  I  received  by  an  interpreter.     The  object 
of  this  delegation  was,  that  they  were  anxious  to 
change,  and  would  if  I  consented  to  remain  amongst 
them.     This  I  could  not  promise,  but  told  them,  that 
if  they  were  truly  determined  to  live  as  good  Catho- 
lics, and  in  peace  with  the  rest  of  the  Indians,  I  would 
consent  to  visit  them  regularly  every  month,  until 
better  provisions  could  be  made  in  order  to  have  a 
permanent  residence  amongst  them.     Tliey  agreed 
to  it,  and  I  commenced  to  visit  thnm  regularly  every 
month.  The  other  half  tribe,  in  learning  these  arrange- 


\'i 


'II 


il 


J 


112 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


r  r ;: 


l.»h.. 


ments  between  the  priest  and  the  Indians  at  Old-Town, 
then  returned  from  Canada,  yet  there  has  not  been 
since,  any  good  feeling  between  the  two  parties,  look- 
ing on  each  other  with  distrust.  The  year  before 
last,  however,  they  agreed  to  give  np  all  parties, 
and  to  form  only  one  body,  yet  the  party  feel- 
ing still  remains.  With  the  exception  of  a  few, 
who  work  either  in  cultivating  the  land  or  in  driving 
logs  in  the  river,  they  are  sluggish  and  have  a  natu- 
ral dislike  for  working,  except  hunting,  where  they 
endure  hardships  above  description.  This  natural 
dislike  for  working  arises  from  a  false  impression  that 
work  is  a  servile  and  mean  thing,  unworthy  of 
the  dignity  of  man,  hence  it  was  left  to  be  performed 
by  the  women.  Hunting  and  fighting  are  the  only 
actions  considered  by  tliem  deserving  the  attention 
of  man.  The  State  Government  had  made  efforts  to 
encourage  agriculture,  but  without  success.  The 
Government  had  directed  the  Indian  Agent  to  plough 
at  the  expense  of  the  Indian  funds,  one  acre  of 
land  for  each  Indian,  leaving  to  them  the  choice  and 
labor  of  planting  what  they  pleased,  giving  besides 
a  bounty  on  what  they  would  raise,  excepting  corn 
and  cabbage  ;  yet  the  most  of  the  Indians  would  let 
the  plouglied  land  run  into  weeds  rather  than  to 
trouble  themselves  to  plant  it.  This  Government 
order  has  been  repealed  in  order  to  avoid  wasting 
money  without  any  profit.  The  squaws  generally 
cultivate  a  kitchen  garden  near  their  houses,  while 
the  men  smoke  their  pipes  sitting  on  the  threshold 
in  idleness.  Once  I  made  them  plant  potatoes  in  the 
garden  attached  to  the  church,  which  they  did  be- 


II 


Si**  in 


I:''    .: 


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["•  •» 


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"Tw^--  •  in  — 


mB, 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


113 


cause  I  was  there  present  personally,  but  being 
obliged  to  be  absent  in  the  fall,  the  potatoes  were 
allowed  to  freeze  in  the  ground,  and  remain  there 
during  the  winter  in  order  to  avoid  the  trouble  of 
digging  them  up.  They  have  over  one  hundred  is- 
lands belonging  to  them,  from  Old-Town  np  to  the 
river.  The  land  is  generally  very  good,  but  many 
islands  are  small  for' a  proper  cultivation.  The  diffi- 
culty of  landing  horses  or  oxen  to  cultivate  them  in- 
creases the  natural  objections  which  they  have  for 
agriculture,  especially  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  when 
it  is  even  dangerous  on  account  of  the  ice  and  logs, 
which  float  in  the  river. 

Their  morals  are  generally  good,  though  they  ur*^ 
prone  to  intoxication,  for  which  the  whites  are  more 
to  blame  than  the  Indians.  They  do  not  swear  or 
curse.  No  Indian  language  has  words  for  it,  but  the 
Indians  have  learned  from  the  lowest  class  of  the 
white  people,  who  «re  famous  for  profane  language, 
swearing,  cursing,  abusing  the  holy  name  of  God,  and 
of  our  Saviour,  how  to  curse  and  swear  in  English. . 

The}^  form  a  nation  distinct  from  the  United  States, 
and  as  such  they  are  recognised  by  the  Government. 
Yet  it  can  be  said  to  be  only  a  nominal  distinction, 
as  in  reality  they  are  bound  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  although  they  do  not  vote,  nor  pay 
taxes.  At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  of  the  State 
of  Maine  each  tribe  has  a  right  to  send  an  Indian 
to  Augusta  to  represent  them,  but  without  voice 
either  active  or  passive.  They  are  allowed  one 
day  to  make  a  speech,  in  which  they  expose  the 
necessities  of  the  tribe,  their  grievances,  and  also 

6* 


«-      ^ 


1 1 


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1*1 

l!l 


t       U  !I 


,'  I 


114 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


present  petitions  in   the  name  of  the  tribe  or  of 
individuals. 

The  tribe  has  a  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
two  Captains,  four  Counsellors,  and  three  or  four 
Deacons,  or  rather  Sextons.  The  Governor  is  elect- 
ed for  life,  and  although  they  for  the  last  few  years 
have  elected  him  every  second  year,  yet  they  do 
not  generally  like  it ;  lately  they  have  chosen  the 
eldest  son  of  the  old  Governor  Etien  to  be  their 
Sangman  for  life.  These  officers,  however,  are  only 
nominal,  as  at  present  they  have  no  power.  The 
Deacons  keep  order  in  the  Church,  attend  to  the 
Yestry,  town-hall,  dancing,  and  wait  on  the  Priest. 
They  have  in  the  hands  of  the  State  Government  a 
capital  amounting  to  iifty-three  thousand  dollars, — 
the  price  for  a  large  tract  of  land  sold  many  years 
ago,  and  for  which  they  receive  an  annual  interest 
of  six  per  cent,  through  an  agent.  This  capital 
was  over  seventy  thousand  dollars,  but  it  has 
been  reduced,  because  the  agent  very  often  drew 
not  only  the  interest,  but  also  a  part  of  the 
principal.  When  the  tribe  became  acquainted  with 
this  proceeding,  they  petitioned  the  Government  not 
to  allow  any  part  of  the  principal  to  be  drawn  for  the 
future,  but  to  direct  the  agent  to  limit  the  annual  ex- 
penses within  the  amount  without  touching  the  prin- 
cipal. Out  of  this  money  they  make  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  sick  and  aged  Indians,  and  bury  the 
dead.  The  public  buildings,  that  is,  the  Church, 
Priest's  house,  town-hall  and  school-house,  are  kept 
in  repair  from  the  common  funds.  Lately  they  appro- 
priate every  year  the  sum  of  twenty  dollars  to  bo 


h'  f 


THE  ABNA.KI3:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


115 


of 


I  or. 


given  to  their  Governor.  TIic  Pastor  was  used  to 
draw  annually  fifty  dollars  for  his  labors  in  attending 
them.  This  scanty  sum,  however,  not  even  sufficient 
to  cover  his  travelling  expenses,  has  been  for  many 
years  withdrawn  from  the  Pastor ;  the  Indians  say 
by  the  bigotry  of  the  Agent,  the  Agent  says  for  the 
fault  of  the  Government,  and  I  believe  the  fault  of 
both.  Two  years  ago  He  v.  M.  Murphy,  the  Pastor  of 
Eastport,  who  attended  also  the  Indians  at  Pleasant- 
Point  and  Lewis  Island,  petitioned  the  Government 
for  his  fifty  dollars  to  defray  the  expenses  incurred 
by  him  in  attending  the  Indians.  The  petition  was 
referred  to  the  Agent,  who  objected  to  it,  on  the 
ground  that  Rev.  Mr.  Murphy  was  not  in  need  of  it, 
because  he  had  been  observed  giving  money  to  the 
Indians.  The  fact  was  that  Rev.  Mr.  Murphy 
had  given  some  change  to  the  Indians  who  had 
brought  him  in  a  canoe  for  four  miles,  across  the 
lakes  to  Lewis  Island.  This  reason  was  sufficient  for 
the  Government  to  refuse  the  petition.  Notwith- 
standing this,  however  the  Pastor  has  always  conti- 
nued to  visit  the  Indians  at  his  own  expense,  and  he . 
has  never  failed  to  attend  as  usually  without  any 
compensation  in  this  world,  expecting  an  abundant 
one  in  the  world  to  come.  After  deducting  all  these 
appropriations  the  balance  of  the  interest  is  equally 
divided  amongst  them. 

The  Agent  who  always  keeps  a  store  gives  them 
their  dividend  chiefly  in  provisions,  but  the  Indiana 
complain  very  much  of  it,  because  they  are  charged 
with  the  highest  prices  for  the  most  common  articles, 
which  they  could  procure  elsewhere  with  better  sat- 


I' 


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- 


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116 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


^ 


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15    i'', 


.,,,, 


(1 


isfaction  in  price  and  quality.  It  is  generally  the 
case,  that  their  dividend  amounts  to  a  trifle.  I  re- 
member one  year,  when  their  share  was  only  one 
dollar  a  head.  By  old  treaties  the  Agent,  school- 
master, and  the  bounty  for  what  they  raise,  were  to 
be  paid  by  Government,  but  I  am  informed  by 
the  Agents,  that  at  present  they  are  paid  from 
the  funds  of  the  lD:^ians.  The  Government  will 
pay  the  interest  of  this  money  as  long  as  the  In- 
dians remain  as  a  nation ;  that  is,  if  they  de- 
crease in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  form  a  nation 
they  lose  any  claim  both  to  interest  and  principal. 
Hence  the  extinction  of  the  Indians  is  of  interest  to 
the  Government,  aud  it  does  not  appear  to  be  at  a 
great  distance.  The  State  forbids  under  great  pen- 
alty the  marriage  of  an  Indian  with  a  person  of  dif- 
ferent color,  and  even  at  this  time  when  this 
country  by  a  terrible  war  gives  freedom  to  the 
degraded  descendants  of  Ham,  cursed  by  'Noe  to 
be  the  servants  of  ili^i'w  brethren  ;  the  Government 
denies  freedom  to  a  noble  race  once  the  only  masters 
and  lords  of  this  couvtry,  who.  though  stripped  of 
their  lands,  have  neyer  been  robbed  of  their  liberty, 
The  Indians  are  not  allowed  by  the  Government  to 
marry  whom  they  please,  even  in  their  own  indcr 
pendent  land,  although  they  are  recognised  as  a  dis- 
tinct and  free  nation.  As  there  exist  here  only 
two  small  tribes^  the  rest  living  at  a  great  distance 
from  them^  they  have  been  obliged  for  many  years 
to  intermarry  continually  amongst  relations^  hence 
they  are  degenerating  and  di6ap])earing  very  fast^ 
A  number  of  them  are  feeble,  consumptive,  and  (u^- 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIll  HISTORY. 


117 


eased.  I  have  myself  represented  this  evil  to  tlie 
Governor  of  the  State  at  Augusta,  but  to  no  use,  the 
law  prohibiting  the  marriages  of  the  Indians  with 
persons  of  a  different  color,  has  not  been  repealed, 
and  is  in  full  vigor. 

Several  years  ago  the  self-sacrificing  and  zealous 
Pastor  of  the  Passamaquoddy  Indians  at  Pleasant 
Point,  Rev.  Ed.  Demillier,  was  forced  through 
motives  of  conscience  to  marry  an  Indian  with  a  per- 
son of  different  color.  The  marriage  was  performed 
at  Pleasant  Point,  an  Indian  independent  territory, 
yet  it  was  a  great  crime  against  the  State.  Rev. 
Edmond  Demillier  was  prosecuted,  and  would  have 
been  taken  to  jail,  if  he  had  not  been  bailed  by  the 
Catholics  of  Eastport,  he  and  his  Indians  being  too 
poor  to  give  security  for  his  appearance  to  court ;  but 
before  his  trial  at  the  tribunal  of  this  State,  he  was 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  High  Tribunal  of  the 
Author  of  Marriage,  who  had  put  no  restriction  on 
account  of  color;  there  he  received  the  reward  of 
his  labors  in  behalf  of  the  Indians.  He  died  in  the 
month  of  July  of  the  year  1843,  and  was  buried  in 
their  church  at  Pleasant  Point,  into  the  Sanctuary  at 
the  side  of  the  Epistle.  The  Indians  to  this  day 
pray  on  his  grave,  because  he  was  their  true  friend 
on  this  earth,  and  thev  should  have  reason  to  believe 
that  he  is  also  tlieir  patron  in  heaven. 

"What  I  have  related  of  the  Penobscot  tribe,  may 
also  be  generally  said  of  the  Passamaquoddy  and 
Micmac  Indians  in  regard  to  their  customs  and  man- 
ners. The  Passamaquoddy  tribe  also  split  in  two, 
but  from  a  different  cause,  and  the  character  of  the 


118 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


li  i' 


I  m  f 


" .  I 


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,i  (■;  t 


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two  parties  is  dissimilar.  In  the  Penobscot  the  new 
party,  with  some  exceptions,  is  composed  of  the  best 
and  most  honest  of  the  Indians ;  whereas  in  the  Passa- 
maquoddy,  the  new  party  was  formed  of  the  worst 
of  them,  with  the  exception  of  a  few,  of  which  num- 
ber is  Piel  Mitchel,  and  the  Governor  Francis,  who 
in  every  respect  are  honest,  peaceful,  and  good  Ca- 
tholic Indians.  At  present,  however,  the  new  party 
at  Denis's  Island  are  by  far  better  than  the  old  par- 
ty at  Pleasant  Point,  with  some  exceptions.  The 
cause  of  this  change  is,  that  the  new  party  live  on 
the  Schoodic  lakes  at  a  distance  from  the  white  peo- 
ple, and  they  cannot  obtain  liquor,  whereas  the  old 
party  living  at  Pleasant  Point  can  obtain  abundance 
of  it  at  Eastport  and  Perry.  The  divisions  amongst 
them  arose  in  the  following  manner. 

In  1836,  two  years  after  the  decease  of  their  Gov- 
ernor Francis  Joseph  Neptune,  they  elected  as  his 
successor  his  son  John  Francis,  who  is  their  pre- 
sent chief.  Sabatis  Neptune,  with  a  strong  party, 
has  opposed  him,  expecting  to  be  the  Governor  of 
the  tribe. 

On  the  4th  of  July  of  1842  they  tried  to  settle 
their  disputes.  Sabatis  was  accused  of  owing 
allegiance  to  Queen  Victoria  of  England.  He  in  re- 
ality was  not  considered  to  be  honest.  They  tried 
to  settle  this  trouble  by  a  fight,  in  which  Sabatis' 
party  was  worsted.  Tliey  pulled  down  the  American 
flag,  cut  down  the  liberty  pole,  and  committed  other 
outrages. 

In  1844,  Newell  Neptune,  the  Sachem  next  in 
rank,  was  elected  to  displace  the  Governor.    Sixty- 


THE  ABNAEIS  :   AND  THEIB  HISTOBY. 


119 


i 


I 


eight  votes  were  cast,  and  Newell  NeptiiLe  was  elect- 
ed unanimously.  Yet  the  old  party  adhered  to 
John  Francis.     Hence  the  tribe  divided  in  two. 

The  new  party  elected  a  Governor  in  the  person  of 
Francis,  brother  of  the  Governor  of  the  other  party, 
and  of  the  whole  tribe.  They  elected  also  other  offi- 
cers. In  1848,  the  Penobscot  and  St.  John  Indians 
settled  the  question  by  allowing  two  parties  and  two 
Governors. 

Both  parties,  however,  could  not  dwell  in  peace  at 
the  same  place.  The  new  party  commenced  to  ram- 
ble along  both  shores  of  the  St.  Croix  river,  but  tired 
of  this  manner  of  living  by  roving  without  a  fixed 
settlement  thev  returned  to  Pleasant  Point,  and 
agreed  to  petition  the  Government  to  build  a  village 
for  the  new  party  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Schoo- 
dic  lakes  in  the  township  belonging  to  that  tribe.  A 
few  houses  were  built,  a  church,  a  house  for  the  priest, 
and  a  small  town-hall.  Before  moving  to  Denis  Is- 
land they  met  together  at  Pleasant  Point,  promised 
a  mutual  friendship,  apologized  for  past  offences  and 
forgave  mutually  what  they  had  said  and  done 
against  each  other,  at  the  same  time  agreeing  that 
the  delegate  which  was  to  be  sent  to  Augusta  every 
year,  should  be  elected  by  turn  once  from  Pleasant 
Point,  and  another  year  from  Denis  Island.  Here 
each  half  tribe  legally  recognised  the  other  half  and 
their  respective  officers.  Then  they  entered  the 
church  and  confirmed  all  these  agreements  by  taking 
an  oath  on  the  missal  upon  the  altar  and  separa- 
ted in  peace.  All  the  Indians  of  the  new  party,  how- 
ever, did  not  remain  at  Denis  Island  for  a  long  time. 


120 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


,.  i 


M 


Many  of  them  soon  became  tired  of  the  new  settle- 
ment, and  left  and  roved  along  both  shores  of  the  St. 
Croix  river.  Some  of  them  established  their  residence 
at  Calais,  others  at  Robinston,  and  others  returned 
to  Pleasant  Point. 

Their  manners  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Penob- 
scot Indians,  except  that  they  are  somewhat  more 
affable.  They  are  poorer  than  those  at  Old-Town. 
The  only  possession  they  have  is  a  few  acres  of  sandy 
and  barren  beach  at  Pleasant  Point,  and  a  t  wnship 
of  very  good  land  at  Lewis  Island.  They  have  leased 
for  fifteen  years  this  township  for  lumber,  and  the 
price  of  it  is  in  the  hands  of  the  State,  which  pays  to 
them  an  annual  interest  of  six  per  cent,  through 
an  agent  in  the^  same  manner  as  with  the  Penob- 
scot Indians,  and  it  is  appropriated  to  the  same  use 
as  with  them. 

Pleasant  Point  is  a  lovely  and  romantic  spot  on  the 
right  shore  of  the  Passamaquoddy  bay  opposite  to 
Deer  Island,  and  eight  miles  north  of  Eastport,  but 
it  is  poor  and  barren,  being  nothing  else  but  sand. 
They  have  no  wood,  hence  their  great  snff'ering  during 
the  winter  season.  They  generally  live  by  hunting 
seals  around  the  Grand  Manahan*  island.  They 
make  oil  and  sell  it  at  Eastport.  They  are  all  Ca- 
tholics, and  they  have  strong  faith,  of  which  they 
have  given  evident  proof  in  several  occasions.  They 
obliged  Mr.  Kellogg,  a  Protestant  teacher  and  mis- 
sionary, to  decamp,  because  he  tried  to  pervert 
them  from  their  religion.  He  had  been  sent  to 
the  Passamaquoddies  as  a  schoolmaster  by  the  Gov- 

*  ManahaD  means  sea  island. 


THE  ABNAKI3:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


121 


I 


ernment  of  Maine,  and  as  a  missionary  by  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  in  Massachusetts.  He  did  work 
enough  to  enable  him  to  draw  his  pay  from  both. 
He  nmde  no  converts,  and  none  of  his  pupils  could 
spell  a  word  of  two  syllables. 

Their  village  at  Pleasant  Point  is  composed  of  a 
couple  of  dozen  of  houses,  generally  scattered  along 
the  Eliore.  The  church  with  the  priest's  house  at- 
tached to  it  is  on  the  top  and  at  the  extremity  of  the 
point,  which  is  washed  by  the  sea  ;  the  water  at  high 
tide  is  only  a  few  yards  from  the  priest'c  house, 
which  was  built  only  a  few  years  ago,  the  former 
dwelling,  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  late  Rev. 
Edmund  Demillier,  being  too  old,  has  been  demo- 
lished. There  is  a  town-hall  with  the  liberty  pole,  a 
cannon  to  tire  salutes,  and  a  school-house  built  in  the 
year  1861  near  the  church,  and  on  the  spot  where 
the  old  priest's  house  was.  There  is  a  graveyard 
in  a  very  good  location  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  The 
church,  which  ici  dedicated  to  St.  Anne,  has  a  belfry 
and  bell  in  it,  and  it  looks  very  neat  from  the  outside, 
and  from  the  sea  it  has  a  romantic  appearance,  but 
the  inside  is  simple  and  has  nothing  interesting,  ex- 
cept that  it  is  ornamented  after  the  Indian  taste. 
This  church  was  built  from  the  proceeds  of  timber 
cut  on  the  Indian  township,  and  was  completed  in 
1835.  The  other  village  at  Lewis  Island  is  sn.  iller, 
but  it  looks  well  from  th-^  l-^:es.  The  chtJich  is  very 
much  like  the  one  at  Pleasant  Point,  but  instead  of 
the  belfry  it  has  a  spire  with  a  bell,  it  is  also  dedi- 
cated to  St  Anne,  and  it  is  likewise  ornamented  after 
the  Indian  taste.     The  priest's  house  and  school 


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TEX  A3NAEIS:  AND  THEIB  HISTORY. 


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are  located  near  the  church.  They  have  a  liberty- 
pole  by  the  side  of  the  townhall,  and  a  can- 
non to  fire  salutes.  The  village  is  located  in  their 
own  township,  which,  besides  being  very  good 
land,  is  stocked  with  fire  wood.  The  Indians 
of  this  village  deserve  credit  for  having  improved  in 
their  manners,  which  is  due  to  their  being  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  white  people.  Many  of  them  culti- 
vate land,  and  some  of  them  possess  very  good  farms. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  Indians  residing  in  the 
State  of  Maine,  may  also  be  applied  to  those  of  the 
British  Provinces.  The  principal  village  of  the  Et- 
chemins  of  ITew  Brunswick  is  on  the  St.  John's 
river  near  Frederickton.  The  village  is  neat,  and  it 
has  a  small  church  dedicated  to  St.  Anne,  and  it  is 
ornamented  after  the  Indian  taste.  There  is  a  resi- 
dence for  the  priest,  who  generally  stays  amongst 
them.  The  tribe  is  as  large  as  those  in  the  State  of 
Maine. 

The  Indians  do  not  confine  themselves  to  that  vil- 
lage, but  they  rove  along  the  St.  John's  river  and 
around  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  They  have  another  small 
village  on  the  north-west  part  of  New  Brunswick, 
about  the  Tobic  river,  from  which  they  derive  their 
name.  There  is  also  another  village,  near  Burned 
Churchy  which  name  was  derived  from  an  Indian 
Catholic  church  burned  by  the  English  over  a  cen- 
tury ago.  It  was  rebuilt,  but  about  fifty  years  ago 
was  burned  down  again  by  an  English  captain. 
The  Micniacs  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia 
are  somewhat  smaller  than  the  rest,  but  they  are 
stronger  and  in  better  condition  than  those  of  Maine. 


THE  ABKAEIS:  AND  THEIR  BISTORT. 


128 


\rty- 
;an- 
leir 

food 

ians 
in 

Idis- 

ilti. 

^ms. 

the 

the 

Et- 


This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  not  obliged 
to  intermarry  amongst  themselves.  There  is  no  pro- 
hibition for  them  to  marry  whom  they  like.  Their 
principal  settlements  in  New  Brunswick  are  on  the 
Miramichi  river,  and  on  the  Bay  of  Chaleurs.  The 
Micmacs  deserve  the  credit  of  being  the  first  amongst 
whom  the  cross  was  planted.  The  first  act  of  reli- 
gious service  held  in  North  America,  if  we  except  the 
Icelandic  settlements,  was  performed  by  the  Catholics. 
Jacques  Cartier,  in  the  summer  of  1534,  after  visiting 
the  Bay  of  Chaleurs,  which  name  he  gave  to  it  on 
account  of  the  excessive  heat,  went  to  Gaspe  Bay. 
There  he  planted  the  cross  amongst  the  Micmacs, 
and  secured  North  America  to  Christianity.  He 
took  two  natives  on  board,  Talguragny  and  Doma- 
gaya,  sons  of  the  chief,  and  carried  them  to  France, 
and  whom  he  fetched  back  on  his  voyage  of  1535. 
In  Nova  Scotia  their  principal  settlements  are  at 
Indian  Island,  Comwallisy  Esquisoni,  and  Chapel 
Island ',  these  two  latter  are  on  Cape  Breton.  Their 
churches,  which  are  about  like  those  of  the  Indians 
of  Maine,  are  also  dedicated  to  St.  Anne. 

The  number  of  Micmacs  residing  in  Prince  Ed- 
ward Island  is  two  thousand  and  perhaps  over.  Their 
principal  settlement  is  at  Indian  River,  where  they 
have  a  church  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  \vhere  a  priest 
resides.  They  have  also  another  village  at  Lennox 
Island,  and  their  church  is  dedicated  to  St.  Anne. 
A  number  of  them  rove  to  the  Magdalen  islands, 
Newfoundland,  to  the  island  of  Anticosti,  and  even 
as  far  as  the  shore  of  Labrador,  but  they  have  no 
permanent  residence.      They  go  thither  to  fish,  or 


»■;■ 
■  ,  i' 


124: 


THE  ABNAKI3  :  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


to  hunt  the  seal,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Passamaquoddy  Indians  do  in  the  Grand-manan  for 
the  same  purpose.  They  stop  there  sometimes  even 
for  months,  but  they  have  no  permanent  residence. 


'  \ 


the 
1  for 
^ven 
ce. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  INDIANS. 

lEFORE  closing  the  present  subject  on  the 
Aborigines  of  Acadia,  I  desire  to  make  a  few- 
remarks  on  the  accusations  continually 
brought  against  the  Indians,  of  their  being  trea- 
cherous and  inflexible  to  Christianity  and  civilization, 
and  that  the  many  efforts  made  both  by  the  people 
and  government  to  improve  their  condition  have 
been  frustrated.  Their  cruelty  has  been  painted 
with  the  most  striking  colon's.  Facts  and  examples 
have  been  brought  to  prove  their  ferocious  inhuman- 
ity and  barbarity,  so  that  the  people  are  generally 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  Indians  in  some  manner 
can  be  classed  with  the  brute  animals.  The  history 
of  the  Aborigines  of  America  has  not  yet  been  writ- 


f 


\ 


i[ 


I 


126 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


I'    t 


f-     ^ 


:    i 


I. 


'  -1  -a 


ifjllj 


ten.  The  person  who  will  undertake  this  difficult 
task,  must  do  justice  to  the  kind  dispositions  of  the 
red  man.  He  has  to  meet  many  prejudices;  he  has 
to  correct  many  wrong  impressions  existing  in  both 
Continents  against  the  real  character  of  the  Indians. 
Their  barbarism  has  been  too  much  exaggerated. 
The  facts  and  instances  brought  against  them  are  only 
fragments  detached  from  the  whole  narrative ;  the 
antecedents  are  carefully  suppressed,  the  causes  are 
ignored,  and  the  ^exceptions  are  given  as  general 
rules.  It  is  true,  that  when  they  were  first  discovered 
by  the  gold-seeking  Europeans,  they  were  totally 
unacquainted  with  the  fine  arts  and  customs  of  the 
civilized  Europe.  The  Indians,  however,  were  liv- 
ing in  a  happy  and  simple  independence.  Their  man- 
ners, although  they  did  not  suit  the  European  taste, 
yet  were  appropriate  to  their  own  disposition  and 
character,  which  formed  what  may  be  called  an  In- 
dian civilization,  different  from  the  European.  Their 
wants  were  few,  and  were  only  confined  to  the  means 
of  subsistence,  which  were  abundantly  furnished  by 
their  immense  forests,  lakes,  and  rivers.  They  had 
their  national  festivals,  dances,  and  public  amuse- 
ments. Tliey  were  happy  in  this  kind  of  golden  age, 
and  they  by  no  means  envied  the  European  civiliza- 
tion, which,  when  tried  to  be  introduced  amongst 
them,  not  only  proved  a  complete  failure,  but  it  has 
deteriorated  their  race,  it  has  destroyed  the  greatest 
part  of  their  nations,  and  it  has  rendered  what  was 
left  a  miserable  and  wretched  generation,  which  per- 
haps will  entirely  disappear  from  the  face  of  the 
American  soil. 


I' 


TBE  jLBNAKIS  *.  AND  THSIB  EISTOBT. 


127 


The  principal  accusations  brought  against  them 
are  that  they  were  cruel  and  treacherous,  of  which  I 
will  speak  separately  in  the  following  chapter. 


1 


1    I 


I 


' 


.; 


'M'' 


J'*.: 


CHAPTER  XYI. 


VINDICATION   OF  THE   CHARACTEB  OF  THE  INDIANS — IM- 

rUTATION   OF   CRUELTY. 


It 


i' 


!« 


M 


^NE  of  tho  charges  brought  against  the  Indiana 
is,  that  they  were  doing  war  nation  against 
nation,  and  in  this  manner  exterminating 
themselves,  and  perpetrating  brutal  cruelties  by  scalp- 
ing, torturing,  mutilation,  and  other  cruelties.  The 
extermination  of  the  Indians  commenced  when  the 
Europeans  began  to  occupy  their  land,  or  to  civilize 
them.  "We  do  not  know  of  any  other  extermination 
previous  to  that  period.  This  extermination  was 
made  by  the  hands  of  the  white  people  ;  and  by  indi- 
rectly inciting  Indians  against  Indians.  But  which 
of  the  civilized  nations  has  not  imbued  the  earth 


<  I 


•f 


I 


ii 


1 1 


<u 


# 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


129 


with  the  blood  of  men  slain  in  war.  Without  going 
abroad,  is  not  this  very  country,  which  claims  to 
have  made  progress  in  civilization  and  Christianity, 
the  theatre  of  an  exterminating  civil  war  by  far  sur- 
passing the  exaggerated  cruelties  of  the  uncivilized 
and  pagan  Indians  ?  The  number  of  lives  lost  in  war 
in  these  four  last  years  both  in  the  North  and  South 
can  be  put  down  to  two  millions ;  yet  the  Indians 
are  barbarians  on  account  of  a  few  hundred  of  them 
killed  in  war.  The  murders  by  cold  blood  commit- 
ted in  New  Orleans  by  a  Butler,  and  by  others  at 
other  places,  either  as  hanging  them  to  trees  as  spies 
or  for  retaliation,  or  shooting  them  as  deserters,  or 
sending  them  to  the  scaffold  by  wholesale,  as  with 
the  Minnesota  Indians.  Exposing  prisoners  to 
the  fire  of  the  enemy,  a  barbarity  never  heard 
before  in  the  history  of  man.  The  ornaments  made 
in  the  South  from  Yankee  bone  surpass,  at  least 
match  the  murders  of  the  Indians; — the  wanton 
burning  of  cities,  villages,  steamers,  and  trading  ves- 
sels, the  vandalic  destruction  of  property  by 
civilized  white  people,  the  entire  desolation  by  arson 
committed  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  by  a  Grant 
and  Sheridan,  in  destroying  every  thing  which 
would  support  man  or  animal,  the  brutalities  of  a 
Sherman  in  Atlanta,  and  its  territory,  far  exceed 
the  ])arbarities  of  the  red  man.  The  law  of  the 
country  does  not  justify  them  more  than  the 
law  and  customs  of  the  tribes  excuse  the  Indians 
for  their  alleged  cruelties. 

"When  the  barbarities  of  the  Indians  in  scalping 
their  enemies  and  tormenting  them  are  compared  witli 

1 


\ 


130 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


m 


II . 


■M. 


Hi 

rr 


li      '    i 


the  brutalities  of  a  Kero,  of  a  Diocletian,  of  a  Maxi- 
milian, and  other  Emperors  of  the  civilized  world, 
philosophers  will  be  puzzled  to  find  which  of  them 
were  barbarians.  "We  know  that  the  heads  of  the 
enemies  were  carried  in  triumph  by  the  Indians,  an;l 
that  the  scalps  were  kept  as  monuments  of  their 
pride,  but  what  a  striking  contrast  between  the  sav- 
age Pocohantas,  and  the  delicate  and  finely  educated 
daughter  of  Herodias  in  asking  the  head  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist  to  be  brought  to  her  in  a  dish,  as  a 
reward  for  her  skilful  dancing !  What  a  contrast 
between  the  savage  Montezumas  and  the  civilized 
De  Soto !  The  slaughter  of  the  innocents  to  satisfy 
the  pride  of  Herod  may  in  vain  be  looked  for 
amongst  the  barbarities  of  the  Indians,  which  were 
confined  to  time  of  war,  or  with  their  enemies. 
The  disgrace  to  humanity  by  Heenan  and  Bay- 
ers fighting  before  civilized  and  Christian  spectators, 
finds  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  barbarian 
natives  of  this  continent,  but  abundant  examples 
"will  be  found  in  the  bull-fights  of  refined  Spain, 
and  in  the  blood-stained  amphitheatres  of  Rome  the 
great,  and  of  Greece  the  learned.  The  cruelty  used 
by  the  Indians  in  tormenting  their  enemies  will  van- 
ish when  brought  in  comparison  witli  the  cruel- 
ties used  by  the  English  in  India  against  the  Sepoys, 
or  with  the  tortures  used  in  the  middle  ages  to  extort 
the  truth  from  witnesses  or  criminals,  and  still  more 
if  we  go  backward  to  the  primitive  ages  of  Christi- 
anity and  consider  the  inhumanities  of  civilized  Em- 
perors against  Christians  without  discrimination  of 
Bex  or  age.    We  know  of  the  pagan  Etschimins  and 


f 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


131 


Micmacs  that  when  an  old  man  lost  a  son  in  time  of 
war,  they   would  kidnap  a  young  man  from  that 
nation  that  had  killed  him,  and  give  him  to  the  old 
man  for  a  substitute  who  was  adopted  and  treated  as 
a  son,  and  as  such  recognized  by  the  entire  nation. 
We  read  in  the  annals  of  the  civilised  Mirmesota, 
that  that  State  offers  a  reward  of  two  hundred  dol- 
lars to  every  person  who  would  kidnap  or  kill  a  Sioux 
w^arrior.*    The  Seminole  Indians,  by  order  of  the 
government,    were  hunted   with   hounds  from   the 
marshes  of  the  territory  of  Florida,  because  they  did 
not  choose  to  give  up  their  native  land.      Civilized 
Englishmen,  Spaniards  and  Americans  have  kidnap- 
ped cargoes  of  negroes  from  the  shores  of  Africa  and 
transported  them  to  slavery  into  a  foreign  land  I 
The  few  remarks  made  on  the  imputation  of  cruelty 
attributed  to  the  Indians  must  puzzle  the  accusers 
and  make  them  blush,  when  a  comparison  is  insti- 
tuted between  the  white  and  red  man.    They  will  find 
that    the    history   of    the  white   man   presents   far 
more  numerous  examples  of  barbarism  and  cruelties 
than  that  of  the  red  man.     Cannibalism  has  never 
been  found  in  America,     The  cruelty  of  the  first 
conquerors  of  America,  the  Spaniards  inflamed  the 
gentle   natives   to   a  barbarous  revenge ;  and  they 
were  calumniated  as  cannibals,  to  afford  a  better  pre- 
text for  their  destruction.     Under  this  pretence  the 
Caribs  were  extirpated.     Yet,  although  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  Caribec  Islands  emigrated  from 
Korth  America,  yet   they  were  mixed  with  many 
run-a-vvay  Negroes.     The  black  Caribs  on  the  island 

♦  Freeman's  Journal,  No.  33,  Nov.  31,  1863. 


i  r 


it. 


132 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


of  St.  Yincent  sprung  from  the  intercourse  of  black 
slaves  and  Caribbean  women.  Cannibalism  was 
found  in  some  islands  of  Oceanica  but  they  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  aborigines  of  America.  "We 
know  that  cannibalism  prevailed  also  among  the  sav- 
age Scythians  and  Sarmatians,  as  well  as  among  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Canaan. 


ck 
'as 
ve 

re 

IV- 

he 


I 
I 


OO 


•OJO 


U3 

•ou 

3^ 

-rS 

E-H 

JI^ 

JK 

C5 

0 

O 

,^, 

3 

M 

rrS 

(0 

:a, 

VI 

od 

^i^ 

■(V* 

^ 

1> 

;Z5 

-V 

t/'. 

^^4 

:5 

t 

1— < 

0 

S 

^ 

C/^J 

~ 

< 

-=1 

2Q 

r^ 

t^ 

-^ 

c/0 

t/3 

-v- 

tJP 

VXD 

3:; 
f- 

g 

0- 

Ci-i 

f^ 

0 

„r3 

1 

--1 

t-e-! 


T.? 


CO 


"cxc 


J>d 


<QO 


C5 


r1 


CHAPTER  XYII. 


•I 


:.^^ 


THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED.   CHARGE  OF  TKEACHEBT. 

>HEN  the  Europeans  first  appeared  on  the 
coasts  of  America,  tlieir  color,  language, 
ships,  fire-arms,  etc.,  naturally  alarmed  the 
natives,  who  conceived  fear  and  suspicion  of  them, 
but  it  soon  disappeared,  and  the  Indians  welcomed 
the  white  men.  They  were  hospitable,  and  gave 
material  assistance  to  the  Europeans,  and  furnished 
them  with  food  in  venison  and  fish,  for  which  they 
received  trinkets.  But  the  Europeans*  treated 
the  natives  unfairly,  and  deceived  theni  in  trading, 
and  in  other  transactions.  This  proceeding  re- 
vived their  former  suspicions,  and  their  fears  were 
soon  realized.     By  degrees  the  natives  lost  all  coufi- 


I 


If^ 


; 


^n 


:H: 


;')' 


134 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


dence,  and  tliey  looked  on  the  wliites  as  encroaching 
on  their  liunting-grounds,  and  as  their  decided  ene- 
mies. This  has  been  the  cause  why  the  Indians  ap- 
peared to  be  treacherous.  It  was  not  treachery,  but 
want  of  confidence,  that  filled  the  hearts  of  the  In- 
dians with  dislike  to\rards  the  whites. 

The  Europeans  soon  began  to  kidnap  the  Indians 
and  carry  tl.   in  i'       slavery.* 

Soon  after  ^  u-  n*'>covery  of  America,  the  Indians 
of  Hispaniola  ^la  exported  to  Spain  and  made 
slaves.  Tiie  Spaniaros  visited  the  coast  of  North 
America  and  kidnapped  thousands  of  natives,  whom 
they  transported  into  slavery  in  Europe  and  in  the 
West  Indies.  Christopher  Columbus  himself  kidnfxp- 
ped  five  hundred  native  Americans,  and  sent  them 
to  Spain,  that  they  might  be  publicly  sold  at  Seville. 
The  practice  of  selling  North  American  Indians  into 
bondage  continued  two  centuries.  In  1518  Las  Ca- 
sas  seeing  the  Indians  vanishing  away,  because  they 
could  not  endure  the  cruelty  of  the  Spaniards,  sug- 
gested that  the  negroes  were  better  adapted  for  sla- 
very. We  know  that  the  Popes  were  obliged  to 
issue  bulls  for  the  protection  of  the  Indians,  that 
they  should  not  be  treated  as  brutes,  nor  carried  into 
slavery.  At  late  periods  there  were  Indian  slaves 
in  Massachusetts.  Even  nowadays  the  white  peo- 
ple in  California  kidnap  Indian  children,  and  sell 
them  for  slaves.  There  have  been  sold  lately  one  hun- 
dred Indian  children  in  Lake  County,  California. 

The  Colonics  planted  by  the   French  in  Acadia 


V 


*  Bancroft. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIK  HISTORY. 


135 


|ne- 

|ap- 

Ibut 

In- 

ians 


to 


V 


4t. 


were  first  supported  by  the  Indians,  who  were  fur- 
nishing them  with  means  of  subsistence.  But  they 
became  disgusted  with  the  French ;  they  refused  to 
give  them  game,  and  the  Colonies  were  nearly  ex- 
tinguished. They  charged  the  French  of  destroying 
them  by  poison.  This  is  certain,  that  after  the  arri- 
val of  the  French  the  number  of  the  Indians  in  Aca- 
dia soon  diminished,  and  entire  villages  of  Micnuics 
were  left  desolate.  Several  cases  of  poison  by  arse- 
nic are  certain.  The  French  had  distributed  arsenic 
to  the  Micmacs  to  kill  their  enemies,  but  not  know- 
ing how  to  use  it,  they  had  done  harm  to  themselves. 
The  French  had  also  given  to  tlie  .1  Vad  and  infected 
merchandise,  which  had  caused  erv  vlestructive  dis- 
eases  amongst  the  Indians,  who  with  some  reason 
charged  the  French  of  poisoning  .hem.  The  Penob- 
ecot  Indians  received  Capt.  \  ^ymouth  very  kindly ; 
they  invited  him  to  visit  their  village,  and  their  prin- 
cipal chiefs,  but  they  were  ill  treated  by  him,  and 
he  even  kidnapped  several  of  them. 

But  the  principal  cause  which  generated  in  the 
heart  of  the  Indians  a  want  of  confidence  and  a  dis- 
trust towards  the  white  men,  was  the  deception  used 
by  the  whites  to  deprive  the  natives  of  their  land. 
Nearly  all  the  Indians  in  the  United  States  have 
been  deprived  of  their  land  by  deception.  The  Pas- 
eamaquoddy  Indians  for  a  trifling  consideration  gave 
the  privilege  to  the  English  to  use  for  one  or  two 
years  their  village,  where  St.  Andrew  is  at  present 
on  the  Passamaquodd}^  Bay,  but  thoy  were  never 
able  to  have  it  back  again.  The  English  Govern- 
ment, gave  them  the  Indian  Island  on  the  same  bay, 


136 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


II  ■  w 


r^li: 


bnt  they  were  soon  expelled,  and  were  obliged  to 
rove  for  a  number  of  years,  till  they  got  from  the 
Government  some  acres  of  land  at  Pleasant  Point  in 
order  to  have  a  permanent  home.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  the  Penobscot  tribe,  who  have  lost  all 
their  land,  witli  the  exception  of  some  islands  on  the 
Penobscot  Kiver. 

It  is  true  that  treaties  were  made  with  the  Indians, 
and  authentic  copies  can  be  produced  of  their  selling 
or  giving  up  land,  but  the  Indians  did  not  understand 
the  nature  of  these  contracts,  nor  could  they  believe 
that  a  parcel  of  paper  could  bind  them  to  give  up 
their  land  for  ever.  Many  of  them  thought  that  the 
land  was  only  leased,  and  they  expected  it  back. 
Many  of  these  contracts  were  extorted  from  them 
when  they  were  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  or  rather 
the  agents  made  them  drunk,  and  so  they  have  in 
presence  of  witnesses  signed  contracts  and  deeds,  of 
which  they  knew  nothing  at  all.  In  Maine  and  Massa- 
chusetts, and  perhaps  in  other  States,  there  is  record 
of  dishonest  and  ignorant  interpreters  at  the  confer- 
ences, or  talks  as  they  call  them,  of  incoii>petent  and 
ill-disposed  commissioners,  who  stated  their  terms  in 
vague  language,  or  disposed  of  tlie  business  with 
which  they  were  entrusted  in  hot  haste,  and  before 
the  chiefs  could  undei*stand  what  was  required  of 
them  ;  and  so  again,  in  one  negotiation,  it  is  certain 
that  a  chief  who  went  to  a  place  designated  was  for- 
cibly carried  to  Boston,  there  to  submit,  while  yet  a 
prisoner,  to  such  terms  as  should  be  dictated  to  him 
by  the  Government.*    In  many  cases  it  was  not  the 

*  ChrisiiaQ  Examiner. 


t 


I 


I 


.1 


i! 


Ill 


I' 


I 


•i 


H 

a 
w 


\''K'' 


:^ 


\ . 


I 


Mi- 


1  ' 
^ 


H  ■! 


i  i- 


p 

pi'' 

! 

;:! 

1 

i 

i 

I    ; 


!    lU 


I 


fiiU 


# 


1 


*»• 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


137 


nation,  but  a  few  bribed  chiefs  tliat  gave  up  the  land, 
the  tribes  never  ratifying  the  contracts.  Often  the 
contracts  wer^  not  vohintary,  but  forced  by  fear,  as 
made  after  that  the  land  had  been  taken  away.  I  re- 
late the  very  words  of  the  Indians  as  reported  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Heckwelder.*  "  When  we  treat  with  the  white 
people,  we  have  not  the  choice  of  the  spot,  where 
the  messengers  are  to  meet.  When  we  are  called 
upoii  to  conclude  a  peace  (and  what  a  peace !)  the 
meeting  no  longer  takes  place  in  shady  groves,  where 
the  innocent  little  birds  with  their  cheerful  songs 
seemed  as  if  they  wished  to  soothe  and  enliven  our 
minds,  tune  them  to  amity  and  concord,  and  take  a 
part  in  the  good  work,  for  which  e  are  met.  Nei- 
ther is  at  the  sacred  Council  house,  that  we  are  in- 
vited to  assemble.  No  !  It  is  at  some  of  those  hor- 
rid places,  surrounded  with  mounds  and  ditches, 
where  the  most  destructive  of  all  weapons,  where 
great  guns  are  gaping  at  us  with  wide  u'o  .ths,  as  if 
ready  to  devour  us,  and  thus  we  are  prevented  from 
speaking  our  minds  freely  as  brothers  ought  to  do  ?" 
In  the  sixth  volume  of  the  CoDections  of  the  Maine 
Historical  Society,  Mr.  Frederick  Kidder  of  Boston 
gives  two  treaties  signed  by  the  North-Eastern  Indi- 
ans, where  the  signatures  are  seen  from  the  Abnakis 
anti  Mareschite  Indians,  one  made  in  1713,  and  the 
other  in  1717.  But  in  perusing  these  treaties,  they  look 
more  like  terms  imposed  to  them  by  a  stronger  na- 
tion, in  whose  mercy  the  Indiiine  are  left,  than  a  free 
stipulation  between  two  parties.    There  land  is  giver 

*  PeDDsylvania  Philosophical  Transaclious. 

1* 


f\ 


lilt: 


if 

\ 

i 


138 


THE  ABNAKIS  :  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


to  tlie  English,  but  witliout  compensation,  land  is 
left  to  the  English,  which  they  already  possessed, 
which  land  belonged  to  the  Indians,  a«  it  is  observed 
by  the  same  Mr.  Kidder  in  the  same  article.  After 
the  vandalic  destruction  of  the  Abnakis  village  in 
Norridgewock  on  the  Kennebec  River  by  the  Bos- 
tonians  and  Mohawks  headed  by  Col.  Westbrook, 
where  the  venerable  old  missionary  Father  Sebastian 
Rale  fell  a  martyr  together  with  a  number  of 
Indians,  the  survivors  retired  to  Canada,  and  de- 
manded redress  through  Mr.  Vaudreuil,  Governor 
of  Canada.  They  demanded  from  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  that  the  English  should  restore 
their  lands  and  rebuild  their  church,  which  they 
had  destroyed  at  Norridgewock.  There  the  In- 
diana denied  that  they  had  ever  sold  any  land  to  the 
English,  and  when  the  latter  claimed  that  much  of 
it  was  theirs  by  a  possession  of  njore  than  eighty 
years,  ai.:!  that  this  possession  gave  them  a  title,  the 
Indians  replied — AVe  were  in  jjossession  before  you, 
for  we  have  held  it  from  time  immemorial.  They 
had  been  induced  to  grant  to  the  white  people  only 
that  territory  where  their  settlements  were,  but  under 
condition  that  they  should  not  encroach  any  further 
on  their  land.  In  1752  Capt.  Phineas  Stevens  j)ro- 
ceeded  to  Canada,  as  a  delegate  from  the  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  to  confer  with  the  Abnakis,  and  to 
redeem  some  prisoners  they  had  in  their  possession. 
At  a  conference  lu-ld  with  them  in  the  ))resenee  of 
the  Governor  of  Canada,  Atewaneto,  the  chief  speak- 
er, ma<le  an  eloquent  reply,  in  which  he  charged  the 
English  with  trespassing  on  their  lauds:   he  said, 


i 


i 


t 


4 


i 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


139 


*^"We  acknowledge  no  other  land  of  yours  lliun  your 
«ettloments,  wherever  you  have  built,  and  wo  will 
not  consent  under  any  pretext  that  you  ])ays  hcyond 
them.  The  lands  we  possess  have  been  i!;ivoii  us  l)y 
the  Great  Master  of  Life,  we  acknowledge  to  hold  it 
only  from  him." 

A  writer  in  No.  XLIX.  of  the  Christian  Ex- 
aminer, makes  the  following  remarks.  ''  llev.  I'^lijah 
Kellog,  a  Protestant,  was  employed  by  the  Society  of 
the  Propagation  of  the  GoBi)el  for  several  yeai^s. 
Ilis  labors  were  confined  exclusively  to  the  Passa- 
maquoddy.  No  man  could  have  been  more  devoted 
and  assiduous,  but  he  was  not  successfid.  The  In- 
dians wei*o  fixed   to  the  Catholic  faith the 

first  trial  of  discipline  dissolved  (the  school)  and 
scattered  the  Indian  boys  and  girls  to  the  four  winds." 
In  the  same  article  he  continues:  ''The  exi»eriinent 
of  attentpting  to  reform  their  vngrant  habits  iii  mat- 
ters of  hil>or  and  its  rewards  has  been  tried,  lias  sig- 
nally failed,  and  need  not  bo  repeated.  Yet  the 
Government  of  Maine  can  nuike,  and,  we  venture  to 
Bay,  o\ight  to  make  suitable  and  even  lii)eral  provi- 
sion fV)r  the  pernument  residence  among  them  of  a 
Catiiolic  clergy nmn,  who  is  willing  to  give  his  life 
to  their  service.  Wedded  fast  to  the  faith  and  cere- 
monies of  the  Koinan  Church,  they  will  heed  the  in- 
etructions  and  rebukes  of  no  Protestants." 

These  l*asKania'piod<ly  Indians,  together  with  the 
Etcheminsof  St.  .iohn'sPiver  and  the  >ri('niacH,  sent 
a  Folemn  deputation  to  the  Kt.  lli'V.  John  Carroll, 
first  Pishop  of  lialtimore,  to  ask  a  missionary.  This 
deputation  was  accompanied  by  a  letter  signed  by 


140 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


id 


i_J! 


v.. 


the  cliicfs  of  the  Passamaquoddy,  St.  John's  and 
Micmac  Indians,  and  they  had  the  crucifix  of  Father 
Rale,  which  they  presented  to  the  Bishop.  Tiio 
Bishop  kissed  the  crucifix,  and  returned  it  to 
them,  accompanied  by  the  following  letter,  the  ori- 
ginal of  which  was  given  to  me  as  a  present  by  the 
Passamacpioddy  Indians  at  Pleasant  Point.  It 
begins  ihus:  "Brethren  and  beloved  children  in 
Jesus  Christ,  I  received  with  the  greatest  pleasure 
the  testimony,"  tfec. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  the  noble  and  meek  Bogcr 
AVilliams  was  persecuted  and  driven  into  the  wilder- 
ness, was,  because  he  attacked  and  denounced  the 
charter  of  t'le  Colony  as  invalid,  because  the  King 
of  England  had  given  to  the  white  people  the  land 
of  other  owners,  the  Indians,  without  their  consent. 
The  learned  Williamson,  in  the  History  of  Maine, 
iTiontions  this  point.  He  records  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  but  no  mention  is  made  there  of  any 
compensation  given.  In  1048  he  do'^s  mention 
some  land  sold  by  the  Indians  on  the  Kenne- 
bec, but  no  authority  is  given.*  lie  reports  there 
that  in  the  peace  of  1078  the  English  were  to  pay 
for  the  land  to  the  Indians,  because  the  land  belongi?d 
to  them,  but  wo  do  not  know  wliethcr  the  land  hud 
been  taken  by  force  or  sold,  nor  we  know  whether 
any  compensation  was  given,  lie  relates  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Indians,  from  whicli  we  may  infer  that 
the  land  had  been  taken  without  their  consent.  lie 
relates  plainly  that  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  the 
English  for  fear,  and  no  exchange  was  received  for 

•  Williauisoii,  llist.  oCMuiuo,  v.  i.  pugu  305  (ii)  ICl,  pm^u  338, 


JLk.-rar'.r:.  •".u.: .  i^ir«ijgi»«fy| 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


Ul 


I 


land.  Father  Rale  in  a  letter  says,  that  the  Kenno- 
bec  land  belonged  to  the  Indians.  I  will  relate  the 
very  words  of  the  Indians  of  several  nations  on  this 
subject  as  reported  by  Ilcck welder,  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Philosophical  Transactions,  in  the  following 
words.  It  was  about  the  Virginians,  whom  the  In- 
dians call  Long  luiivcs.^'  "  It  was  we  (sa}*^  tiic  Len- 
apis,  Mohegans,  and  other  kindred  tribes)  who  so 
kindly  received  them  on  their  first  arrivji^  into  our 
country.  AVe  took  them  by  the  hand,  and  l)id  them 
welcome  to  sit  down  by  our  side,  and  live  with  us  as 
brothers,  but  how  did  they  requite  our  kindness? 
They  at  first  asked  only  for  a  little  land  on  which  to 
raise  bread  for  themselves  and  their  families,  and 
pastures  for  their  cattle,  which  we  freely  gave  them. 
They  soon  wanted  more,  which  we  also  gave  them. 
They  saw  the  game  iri  the  woods,  which  the  Great 
Spirit  had  given  us  for  our  subsistence,  and  they 
wanted  that  too.  They  penetrated  into  the  woods 
in  quest  of  game,  they  discovered  sjiots  of  land 
which  pleased  them  ;  that  land  they  also  wanted,  and 
because  we  were  loth  to  part  with  it,  as  we  saw 
they  had  alrea»ly  more  than  they  had  need  of,  they 
took  it  from  us  by  force,  and  drove  us  to  u  great 
distance  from  our  ancient  homes." 

The  New  Yorkers  treated  them  in  the  same  man- 
ner. *'  I'y  and  by  the  Dutchnum  arrived  at  M(tna- 
hitcli'an'unk:\  The  great  num  wanted  only  a  little 
land,  on  which  to  raise  greens  lor  his  soup,  just  as 
much  jis  a  bullock's  hide  would  cover.      Here  wo 


♦  Pfunsylvuiiiu  PliilosopUical  Trausaclluus,  v.  I. 
f  Maiilmltuu  Ibland. 


if 

,»■■ 


li 


"I  i 


r- 


142 


THE    ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


fir?t  ;ni^hf  have  observed  their  deceitful  spirit.    TI13 
i.aliock's  hide  was  cut  up  into  little  strips,  and  did 


not 


ideed,  but 


•cled 


large 


of 


cover  inaeea,  out  encu 
land,  which  we  foolishly  granted  to  them.  They 
were  to  raise  greens  on  it,  instead  of  which  they 
planted  great  guns;  afterwards  they  built  strong 
houses,  made  themselves  masters  of  the  island,  then 
went  up  the  river  to  our  enemies,  the  Mengwe,  made 
a  league  with  them,  persuaded  us  by  their  wicked 
arts  to  lay  down  our  arms,  and  at  last  drove  u^?  entire- 
ly out  of  the  country." 

The  treatment  of  the  Pennsylvanians  towards  the 
Indians  is  expressed  in  the  following  terms.  "To 
many  of  those,  Pennsylvania  was  a  last  delightful 
asylum.  ...  On  whichever  side  of  the  Zenapaoi- 
hiituch*  the  white  people  landed,  they  were  wel- 
comed as  brothers  by  our  ancestors  .  .  .  who  gave 
them  lands  to  live  on  ...  .  and  even  hunted  for 
them,  and  furnished  them  with  meat  out  of  the 
woods.  Such  was  our  conduct  t^  fhe  white  men,t 
who  inhabited  this  Cou.itry  uhcl  -  ir  elder  brother 
the  Great  and  good  Micjuon;):  came  and  brought  us 
words  of  peace  and  good  will.  AYe  believed  his 
words,  and  his  memory  is  still  hold  in  veneration 

among  us Our  brother  Miquon  died,  and 

those  of  his  good  counsellors,  who  wore  of  his  mind. 
The  strangers,  who  had  taken  their  places,  no  longer 
f  poke  to  us  of  sitting  down  by  the  side  of  each  other 
ah  brothcfP  of  one  family.     They  forgot  that  friend- 

*  Hittifck  river,  honco  I^n?',pewihlttuck,  tho  river  of  tho  Leimpoa, 
HO  they  cal)  <'^  the  PoJawure  I'.ivr. 
f  titU'l    tf  J  S Woden. 


■r=-r;T,  x-  -.-  -.r..  ;j.x -jai.  JJ r ,'  »"■ 


-WU.  ».■:--; 


"▼- 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HLSrORY. 


143 


'.  u 


sliip,  M'h'ch  tlicir  great  man  had  ostabliilied  withug, 
and  wliich  was  to  last  ^  the  end  of  time.  They  now 
only  strove  to  get  all  our  land  from  us  by  fraud  and 
force,  and  when  we  attempted  to  remind  them  of  whi.t 
our  good  brother  had  said,  they  became  angry  and 
sent  word  to  our  enemies,  the  Mengwe,  to  meet  them 
at  a  Great  Council,  which  they  were  to  hold  with  us 
at  Loehauwake^*  where  they  should  take  us  by  the 
hair  of  our  heads  and  shako  us  well.  .  .  .  "This 
affair  happened  in  reality  in  Pensylvania.  The 
Dutchmen,  and  afterwards  the  Englishmen  made  the 
Iroquois,  called  Mengwe  by  the  Delaware,  and  other 
Pennsylvania  Indians  to  assist  them  hi  exterminating 
the  Lenni-Lenapis."  The  Mengwe  persuaded  the 
Lenapi  to  become  women,  that  is,  to  lay  down  their 
arms  and  to  occupy  themselves  in  agriculture,  and 
thus  disarmed  they  could  be  slaughtered. 

The  nuuiner  in  which  the  Lenni-Lenapis  were 
treated  by  the  whites  is  mentioned  by  them  in  those 
touching  words. t  "  We  and  our  kindred  tribes  Uwyi 
in  peace  and  harmony  with  each  other,  befo  the 
white  people  came  in  this  Country.  Our  Ct)U?icil 
liouset  extended  far  to  the  North,  and  far  to  ihc^ 
South.  In  the  middle  of  it  we  would  meet  from  alt 
parts  to  smoke  the  pij)C  of  peace  together.  When 
the  white  nuiu  arrived  in  the  South,  wo  received 
them  as  friends.  We  did  the  same  when  they 
arrived  in  the  East.  It  was  we,  it  was  our  lore- 
fatlierB,  who  made  thcui  welcome,  and  let  them  sit 


M 


■  Kuton  iit  PenriHylvania. 

f  Uockwflder,  Hist:  i  iirrut.  v.i. 

X  It  luottus  Oonntciion^  Dulrid. 


i^ri*  II 


u 


■Vi 


H 


\l' 


li' 


lU 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


down  by  our  side.  The  land  they  settled  on  was 
ours.  We  knew  not  but  the  Great  Spirit  had  sent 
them  to  us  for  some  good  purpose,  and  therefore  we 
thought  they  must  be  a  good  people.  We  were  mis- 
taken ;  for  no  sooner  had  they  obtained  footing  on 
our  land,  than  they  began  to  pull  our  Council-house 
down,  first  at  one  end  and  then  at  the  other,  and  at 
last  meeting  each  other  at  the  centre,  where  the 
Council-lire  was  yet  burning  bright,  they  put  it  out. 
They  extinguished  our  Council-fire  with  our  own 
blood,  and  with  the  blood  of  those,*  who  with  us 
liad  received  them,  who  luul  welcomed  them  in  our 
land.  Their  blood  ran  in  streams  into  our  fire  and 
extinguished  it  so  entirely,  that  not  one  spark  was 
left  whereby  to  kindle  a  new  fire.f  We  were  com- 
pelled to  withdraw  ourselves  boyond  the  Great 
Swamp,:}:  and  i«)  fly  to  our  good  (Jnde  the  DeUtmat- 
teno8.%  who  kindly  gave  us  a  tract  of  land  to  live  on. 
How  long  we  shall  be  |)ermitted  to  remain  in  this 
asylum,  the  Great  Spirit  only  knows.  The  whites 
will  not  rest  contented  until  they  shall  have  dcstrov- 
ed  the  last  of  us  and  made  us  disappear  entirely 
from  the  face  cf  the  earth."  About  the  New  Eng- 
landers  the  Indians  speak  in  the  tnllowing  manner. 
"  When  ih  1  Y&ii^/ceso  arrivtd  at  Machtitschwa7ine 
they  looked  ab^ut  c  very  where  for  good  spots  of  land, 

♦  They  alliiuo  to  the  m'svlor  oftlio  Coneatojfo  Indians,  who,  though 
of  unothor  Tribe,  )  et  hast  joined  them  in  weleoniing  the  white  peoplo 
to  their  '^^'icrea.  VW^  lunienia'ulo  event  took  place  in  reality.  See 
Philo8c>|)'  ;  ai  Tranhhitionh.  v.  i. 

f  Thih  litct  ii;*;  pened  in  1702,  at  Lancaster,  rcimsylvuuitt. 

X  The  glades  on  the  Alleghany  niuuntuiiui. 

g  Thu  Huruuii,  m  ^uluU  by  tUoui. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR   HISTORY. 


145 


I 


and  wlien  tliey  found  one,  they  immediately  and  with- 
out ceremony  possessed  tlicmselves  of  it.  We  were 
astonished,  but  still  we  let  them  go  on.  .  .  .  But 
when  at  last  they  came  to  our  favorite  spots,  those 
which  lay  most  convenient  to  our  tisheries,  then 
blood}^  wars  ensued.  .  .  .  these  white  men  encroach- 
ed so  fast  upon  us,  that  we  saw  at  once  we  should 
lose  all  if  we  did  not  resist  them."  Gookin,  in  his 
history  of  the  Christian  Indians,  has  exposed  their 
sufferings,  and  the  ill  treatments  received  from  the 
whites.  This  is  the  reason  why  they  have  resisted 
the  etforts  of  Protestant  Missionaries  to  christianize 
them ;  it  was  because  the  preachings  of  these  Mis- 
sionaries were  counteracted  by  the  bad  example, 
injustices,  and  ill  treatment  from  the  hands  of  tho 
white  Christians,  and  while  with  one  hand  they  were 
giving  to  them  the  Bible,  with  the  other  hand  they 
were  robliing  them  (tf  their  land.  Gookin  says 
that  thy  English  soldiers  made  nothirjg  of  the 
Indijins.  Governor  Hutchinson  says  that  this  more 
than  anv  other  tliiiiij:  occasioned  the  defeat  of  tho 
endeavours  for  chrii^tianizing  the  Indians;  ....  it 
sank  their  spirits,  led  them  to  intemperance,  and 
extirpated  the  whole  race.  For  this  reason  when 
the  zealous  Uev.  John  Eliot  tried  to  engage  Phili[)'s 
attention  to  religion,  the  Sachem  taking  hold  of  a 
button  on  the  good  man's  coat,  said  that  h(f  cared  no 
more  for  his  religion  than  for  that  butt. »n.*  AVheu 
Mr.  Mayhew  re(im'.sted  of  xnnigret,  chief  of  tho 
INarragansets,  liberty  to  preach  to  his  people,  tho 


'*'   MutUur'i)  Muguuliu. 


146 


THE  ABNAEIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


t\i 


Pi' 


•It' 


Chief  bid  him  go  and  make  the  English  good  first: 
and  in  effect  added,  that  so  long  as  the  English  could 
not  agree  among  themselves  what  Religion  was,  it  ill 
became  them  to  teach  others.*  The  vandalic  destruc- 
tion of  the  last  Abnaki  village  in  3iaine  is  pointed 
out  to  the  stranger  by  that  celebrated  monument 
standing  on  the  shores  of  the  Kennebec  river. 
That  land  belonged  to  the  Indians,  who  have  never 
received  any  compensation  for  it,  notwithstanding 
iiie  repeated  applications  made  by  the  Indians,  and 
by  the  governor  of  Canada. 

*  Life  of  Ninigrnt  in  Drake's  Book  of  tiie  Indiana. 


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CHAPTER  XYIIL 

PRESENT  TREATMENT  OF  THE  INDIANS  EAST  AND  WEST 
OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  HANGING  OF  THIRTY-NINE  MINNE- 
SOTA  INDIANS. 

fT  is  an  impression  prevailing  amongst  some  per- 
sons that  the  Indians  at  present  time  receive 
better  treatment,  encouragement,  and  assistance 
both  from  the  Government  and  from  the  people. 
But,  unfortunately  it  is  not  so.  They  are  treated  as 
badly  as  ever.  The  few  tribes  left  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi have  been  moved  away  forcibly  from  their 
hunting-grounds  and  fishing  shores  to  lands  ap- 
propriated by  the  Government  west  of  that  river, 
and  when  that  land  too  became  coveted  by  the  peo- 
ple, they  were  removed  still  further  west  either  will- 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  MS80 

(716)  872-4503 


148 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


i 


ingly  or  not  willingly.  The  Seminoles  of  Florida 
never  consented  to  quit  their  favorite  soil  of  the  At- 
lantic shore.  They  felt  satislied  to  occupy  the  sick- 
ly swamps  and  bogs  of  the  Florida  territory.  Yet 
the  white  man  did  not  wish  to  have  the  red  face  too 
near  to  him.  They  were  forced  to  sign  a  treaty  to 
move  west,  yet  their  attachment  to  the  native  soil 
could  not  persuade  them  to  fulfil  an  extorted  treaty. 
Many  of  them  resisted  by  force.  Many  years  of 
harassing  war  by  the  Government  could  not  expel 
them.  Money  was  lavished,  and  many  precious  lives 
were  sacrificed. 

It  became  the  subject  of  speculations  and  politics. 
Finally  the  Seminoles  were  brutally  hunted  by 
hounds  and  mastiffs — an  example  never  known  to 
have  been  practiced  even  by  cannibals,  yet  it  has 
been  used  by  a  Christian  and  civilized  nation,  on  the 
very  native  land  of  the  Indians. 

The  Cherokees  embraced  the  European  civilization 
to  a  great  extent.  They  applied  themselves  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  land,  and  to  the  mechanical  arts ; 
they  had  schools  of  their  own,  they  had  even  started 
newspapers  in  their  own  language,  yet  notwithstand- 
ing this  they  were  obliged  to  quit  their  native  home 
and  move  to  a  far  distant  country. 

This  ill  treatment  is  not  confined  only  to  the  na- 
tives east  of  the  Mississippi,  but  it  is  extended  to 
those  living  on  the  other  side  of  it  The  recent  mas- 
sacre of  the  Minnesota  settlers  by  the  Sioux  Indians, 
and  tlie  hanging  of  the  Indians  by  wholesale  by  the 
hands  of  a  beneficent  Government,  has  put  before  the 
eyes  of  the  people  many  curious  and  astonishing  facts. 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


149 


/ 


"When  the  white  people  commenced  to  form  settle- 
ments near  the  Indian  reservations,  or  into  the  very 
land  belonging  to  them,  they  looked  on  the  Indians 
as  a  nuisance  and  intruders,  and  overlooked  to  re- 
flect, that  the  natives  were  the  masters  of  the  land. 
Agents  were  appointed  by  the  Government,  who  di- 
rectly and  indirectly  assisted  the  white  people  to 
get  rid  of  the  Indians.  The  Indians  of  Minijesota 
were  driven  by  despair  to  commit  the  massacr  re- 
ferred to.*  Several  years  ago  they  were  forced  to 
sell  to  the  Government  a  large  tract  of  land.  They 
were  swindled,  and  never  received  any  compensation. 
The  agent  gave  them  liquor  and  other  articles  calcu- 
lated to  demoralize  them.  The  Chiefs  and  other 
wise  Indians  frequently  though  in  vain  remonstrated 
with  Government.  Considering  that  they  had 
been  deceived,  ruined  in  their  morals,  and  find- 
ing no  redress,  they  looked  on  the  extorted  sale  of 
land  as  null,  and  tried  to  expel  by  force  the  whites 
who  had  intruded  on  their  land.  Bishop  "Whip- 
ple shows  very  plainly,  that  this  wretched  peo- 
ple have  been  the  victims  of  theft,  murder,  violence 
to  women,  where  death  had  followed  at  the  hands  of 
white  and  red  men.  The  Government  had  fostered 
idleness  by  encouraging  a  savage  life  especially  by 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  They  have  repeatedly 
remonstrated  against  these  evils.  The  Indians  have 
several  times  demolished  the  stores  of  the  agents  con- 
taining liquor,  scalping  knives,  beads,  etc.  They  des- 
troyed these  articles  for  their  own  protection.     Yet 

*  See  New  York  Tablet,  Boston  Jouraal,  and  other  papers  of  that 
date.    Also  Bishop  Whipplo*s  letter  on  that  subject. 


•   H 


150 


THE  ABNAKIS  :  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


yi 


the  Government  never  moved  a  step  to  do  them  jus- 
tice. But  when  driven  by  madness  and  defipair  they 
expelled  by  force  the  intruding  whites,  and  killed 
some  of  them,  then  the  Government  sent  an  army, 
not  to  redress  the  wrongs,  which  for  several  years 
had  been  perpetrated  by  the  whites  against  the  Indi- 
ans, but  to  punish  by  a  wholesale  slaughter,  the  un- 
fortunate Indians  who  had  been  compelled  to  perpe- 
tuate these  barbarous  acts,  which,  however,  we  do  not 
mean  to  approve.  A  one-sided  judgment  found  guil- 
ty two  hundred  Indians.  The  Government  wished 
to  execute  only  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  violat- 
ing white  women.  A  number  of  red  women  had 
been  violated  by  white  men,  but  being  there  differ- 
ence in  the  color,  no  notice  had  been  taken  of  it. 
Unluckily  for  the  Indians  only  two  of  them  were 
found  guilty  of  having  violated  white  women  ;  and 
the  sacrifice  of  two  could  not  satisfy  the  Government, 
but  a  wholesale  slaughter  was  ordered  by  hanging 
thirty-nine  Indians. 

This  manner  of  acting  of  the  Government  and  peo- 
ple towards  the  native  Americans,  is  not  limited  only 
to  those  living  east  and  west  of  the  great  Mississip- 
pi River,  but  it  extends  far  west  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  as  far  as  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


/ 


TREATMENT    OF    THE    CALIFORNIA    INDIANS.      RESERVA- 
TION    SYSTEM     ADOPTED    BY    THE   GOVERNMENT    LIKE 
THAT  OF   THE   CATHOLIC   MISSIONS   IN   AMERICA. 


HEN  the  State  of  California  was  admitted 
into  the  Union,  the  number  of  the  Indians 
living  within  its  borders  was  estimated  to 
one  hundred  thousand.  How  they  scarcely  reach 
thirty  thousand.  This  great  reduction  is  due  to  the 
efforts  of  the  white  people  to  civilize  them.  The 
manner  of  civilization  was  the  following.*  In  the 
wine-growing  districts  they  were  employed  to  culti- 

*  "We  have  received  permission  to  make  quotations  from  Harper's 
Magazine  in  this  last  article.  « 


:.fe  ! 


f      ! 


I:'  i  . 


152 


THE  ABNAKIS:  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


vate  the  land.  They  were  usually  paid  in  native 
brandy  every  Saturday  night,  put  in  jail  next  morn- 
ing for  getting  drunk,  and  bailed  out  on  Monday  to 
work  out  the  fine  imposed  upon  them  by  the  legal 
authorities.  This  system  prevails  yet  in  Los  Angeles 
and  Pueblo. — In  the  northern  portions  of  the  State 
the  settlers  engage  at  a  fixed  rate  of  wages  to  culti- 
vate the  ground,  and  during  the  season  of  labor 
they  feed  them  on  beans  and  give  them  a  blanket  or 
a  shirt  each.  The  harvest  being  secured,  the  account 
was  considered  square,  and  the  Indians  were  driven 
off  to  forage  in  the  woods  for  themselves  and  fami- 
lies, during  the  winter.  Many  of  them,  of  course, 
perished  of  starvation  and  exposure,  and  others  were 
killed  on  the  general  principle  that  they  must  have 
subsisted  by  stealing  cattle. 

The  Indians  inhabiting  the  Coast  Hange,  the  val- 
leys of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin,  and  the 
western  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  became  trouble- 
some at  the  period  of  the  discovery  of  the  gold  mines. 
It  was  found  convenient  to  take  possession  of  their 
country  without  recompense,  rob  them  of  their  wives 
and  children,  kill  them  in  every  cowardly  and  bar- 
barous manner  ;  and  when  it  was  not  practicable,  to 
drive  them  as  far  as  possible  out  of  the  way.  These 
unfortunate  creatures  could  not  understand  why 
they  should  be  murdered,  robbed,  and  hunted  down 
in  this  way,  without  any  other  pretence  of  provoca- 
tion than  the  color  of  their  skin,  and  the  habits  of 
life  to  which  they  had  always  been  accustomed.  Ac- 
tuated by  motives  of  resentment,  a  few  of  them  occa- 
sionally rallied,  preferring  rather  to  die  than  submit 


' 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


163 


to  these  wrongs.  "White  men  were  killed  from  time 
to  time ;  cattle  were  driven  oflP,  horses  were  stolen, 
and  various  other  offences  were  committed.  The 
Federal  Government,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Minnesota 
Indians  and  others,  sent  troops  to  aid  the  settlers  in 
slaughtering  the  Indians.  Congress  took  the  mat- 
ter in  hand.  A  large  sum  of  money  was  appropri- 
ated to  purchase  cattle  and  agricultural  implements 
for  the  relief  of  the  Indians.  Agents  and  sub-agents 
were  appointed  with  rich  salaries,  and  treaties  were 
made,  in  which  the  various  tribes  were  promised 
many  valuable  presents,  which  they  never  got.  Many 
thousands  of  cattle  were  purchased,  but  instead  of 
being  given  to  the  Indians,  they  were  driven,  at  least 
for  the  greater  part,  to  the  mines,  and  sold  at  good 
prices  to  the  gold  diggers.  The  Indians  so  beneiited 
continued  to  starve  and  continued  to  be  abused  and 
driven  away  to  perish  by  starvation  and  exposure, 
notwithstanamg  the  money  of  the  Government. 
Many  Indian  chiefs  protested,  that  if  the  white  peo- 
ple would  only  let  them  alone,  and  give  them  the 
least  possible  chance  to  make  a  living,  they  would 
esteem  it  a  much  greater  favor  than  any  relief  they 
had  experienced  from  Congress. 

In  1853  Congress  enacted  laws  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  reservation  system  in  California,  like  the 
one  used  by  Catholic  Missionaries  in  Mexico,  Cali- 
fornia, Brazil,  and  Paraguay,  etc.,  which  had  worked 
80  admirably.  It  was  known  that  the  Catholic  Mis- 
sions in  California  had  been  built  chiefly  by  Indian 
labor.  Before  the  encroachment  of  the  Americans 
on  California,  Catholic  Missionaries  had  fully  demon- 


"w»««*i»**"«i»*" 


164 


THE  ABNAK13:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


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strated  the  capacity  of  the  Indians  for  the  acqiiiBition 
of  civilized  manners.  By  this  system  extensive  tracts 
of  land  had  been  cultivated,  numerous  vineyards  had 
been  planted,  many  hostile  tribes  had  been  subdued, 
and  without  any  aid  of  the  Government,  beyond  the 
grants  of  land  for  Missionary  purposes,  the  Indians 
grew  wealthy,  possessed  immense  herds  of  cattle, 
sold  agricultural  products  to  the  rancheros,  and  kept 
up  an  active  commerce  in  hides  and  tallow  with  the 
United  States. 

If  all  this  was  done  by  Spanish  priests  without 
arms  or  assistance,  in  a  savage  country,  when  the  In- 
dians were  more  numerous  and  powerful,  surely  they 
thought,  that  it  could  be  done  in  a  comparatively 
civilized  country  by  intelligent  Americans,  with  all 
the  light  of  experience,  with  the  co-operation  of  a 
beneficent  government,  and  the  zeal  of  numberless 
Bible  and  Tract  Societies. 

Large  appropriations  were  made  by  Congress  to 
carry  it  into  effect.  Tracts  of  land  of  twenty-five 
thousand  acres  were  ordered  to  be  set  apart  for  the 
use  of  the  Indians;  officers  were  appointed  to  super- 
vise the  affairs  of  the  service ;  clothing,  cattle,  seeds 
and  agricultural  implements  were  purchased,  and  va- 
rious tribes  were  invited  to  settle.  The  first  reser- 
vation was  established  at  Tejon  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  State,  and  the  Indians  were  feasted  with 
cattle.  It  cost  about  $250,000  only  to  start  it.  Simi- 
lar reservations  wero  made  afterwards  also  in  the 
Sacravnento  valley  at  a  place  called  Nome  Lackee, 
south  of  Cape  Mendocino ;  and  one  on  the  Klamath, 
below  Crescent  City ;  besides  which,  there  were  In- 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


155, 


i%-''' 


':»i: 


dian  farms,  as  adjuncts  of  these  reservations,  at  the 
Tremo,  [N'ome  Cult  or  Round  Yalley,  the  Mattole 
Yalley,  near  Cape  Mendocino,  and  other  points. 

Unfortunately  one  pouit  escaped  the  ohservation 
of  Congress  and  Government  in  regard  to  the  system 
carried  by  the  Catholic  clergy,  whicli  had  worked  so 
admirably  in  California  with  the  Indians.  The  Ca- 
tholic Missionaries  were  persons  actuated  by  no  hu- 
man purpose.  Their  object  was  to  carry  the  light 
of  the  Catholic  Church  to  those  distant  children  of 
the  forests.  The  primary  mission  of  the  Catholic 
Church  is  to  win  souls  to  Heaven  ;  the  secondary 
mission  is  to  advance  human  civilization  in  the  culti- 
vation of  man  in  this  world,  in  his  education  and  in- 
struction of  things  of  this  life.  These  two  objects  are 
intrinsically  connecting  each  other.  The  former 
naturally  generates  the  latter,  the  latter  cannot  sub- 
sist without  the  former.  The  Missionaries  were  self- 
sacrificing  men,  entirely  disinterested,  earnestly  and 
altogether  devoted  to  carry  out  those  two  missions 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Thev  soon  won  the  confi- 
deuce  of  the  Indians.  They  with  their  example, 
simplicity  of  life,  mortification,  and  self-denial,  en- 
graved into  the  hearts  of  those  Indians  the  maxims 
of  the  Gospel,  which  the}  preached  to  them ;  and 
God  who  had  promised  to  give  ctHcacy  to  the  words 
of  those  whom  he  had  charged  to  teach  all  nations, 
and  to  be  with  them  even  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
gave  grace  and  assistance,  and  the  Missions  yielded 
a  hundred-fold  fruits. 

This  point  was  entirely  disregarded  by  Congress. 
Its  object  was  only  human,  and  regarded  only  this 


168 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


|!       < 


i 


;■- 


' 


world.  No  provisions  were  made  to  win  the  Indians 
to  Heaven,  but  only  to  gain  them  to  the  Govern- 
ment. The  persons  employed  to  carry  out  this  sys- 
tem were  people  who  had  worked  for  the  election  of 
the  Administration,  and  were  to  be  rewarded  by  lu- 
crative offices,  and  while  they  were  to  look  after  the 
Indians,  they  were  to  gain  votes  for  the  new  candi- 
dates. They  could  not  persuade  the  Indians  to  be 
temperate,  as  liquor  was  used  very  freely  by  the  offi- 
cers, and  persons  of  intemperate  habits  were  ill  calcu- 
lated to  improve  the  morals  of  the  Indians.  The 
funds  appropriated  for  the  Indians  were  used  for 
electioneering  purposes. 

From  time  to  time  very  flattering  accounts  were 
transmitted  to  Congress  of  the  progress  of  the  system. 
The  extent  and  variety  of  the  cropj  were  fabulously 
grand.  Immense  numbers  of  Indians  were  fed  and 
clothed — on  paper.  The  Department  esteemed  all 
this  to  be  a  close  approximation  to  the  Spanish  Mis- 
sion system.  But  notwithstanding  these  fl:  ttering 
accounts,  complaints  were  continually  sent  the 
Government  that  a  very  large  amount  of  moue^  vas 
annually  expended  in  feeding  white  men,  and  starv- 
ing and  destroying  the  Indians.  A  special  agent 
was  directed  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  ser- 
vice, and  report  the  result.  He  went  to  California, 
examined  the  affairs,  and  reported  to  the  Govern- 
ment that  the  policy  pursued  was  wrong.  The  white 
people  were  becoming  fat  and  the  Indians  starved. 
During  a  period  of  three  years  from  mail  to  mail  the 
agent  made  his  reports  piling  up  proof  upon  proof, 
protesting  and  remonstrating  against  the  policy  pur- 


n 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


157 


/ 


euecl.  Otlicr  agents  were  sent  to  ascertain  if  he  liad 
told  the  tnitli,  who  were  forced  to  .confess  the  truth 
of  wlmt  he  had  said. 

!Notwitlistanding  these  reports,  the  Indians  were 
starving  in  the  reservation,  and  many  of  these  who 
were  ph^^sically  aMo  took  advantage  of  the  leave  of 
absence  gi'anted  :licni  freely,  and  left.  Yery  few 
ever  remained  at  these  benevolent  institutions,  when 
there  was  a  possibility  of  getting  anything  to  eat  in 
the  woods.  Every  year  numbers  of  them  perished 
from  neglect  and  disease,  and  some  from  absolute 
starvation.  Only  a  few  hundred  Indians  were  left 
out  of  the  many  thousand  that  existed  prior  to  the 
inauguration  of  the  system,  living  within  the  limits 
of  the  districts  sot  apart  for  reservation  purposes. 
No  pretext  has  been  wasted  ;  no  opportunity  lost  to 
put  the  Indians  out  of  the  way.  At  Nome  Cult  Val- 
ley during  the  winter  of  1858-59  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  pea^'^able  Indians,  including 
women  and  children,  were  cruelly  slaughtered  by  the 
whites.  Mr.  J.  Ross  Browne  relates  this  barbarous 
treatment  in  the  following  words.*  It  was  alleged 
that  they  (the  Indians)  had  driven  off  and  eaten  pri- 
vate cattle.  ..."  Upon  an  investigation  of  this 
charge,  made  by  the  othcers  of  the  army,  it  was 
found  to  be  entirely  destitute  of  truth  :  a  few  cattle 
had  been  lost,  or  probably  killed  by  white  men,  and 
this  was  the  whole  basis  of  the  massacre.  Armed 
parties  went  into  the  rancheros  in  open  day,  when  no 
evil  was  apprehended,  and  shot  the  Indians  down, 

weak,  harmless,  and  defenceless  as  they  were — with- 

J "_ 

*  Harper's  Magazine. 
8* 


158 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIK  HISTORY. 


out  distinction  of  age  or  sex ;  sliot  down  women  with 
Rucking  babes  at  their  breasts  ;  killed  or  crippled  the 
naked  children  that  were  running  about;  and  after 
they  had  achieved  this  brave  exploit,  appealed  to 
the  State  Government  for  aid.  Oh !  shame,  shame  I 
where  is  thy  blush,  that  white  men  should  do  this 
with  impunity  in  a  civilized  country,  under  the  very 
eyes  of  an  enlightened  Government.  They  did  it, 
and  they  did  more.  For  days,  weeks,  and  months, 
they  ranged  the  hills  of  Kome  Cult,  killing  every  In- 
dian that  was  too  weak  to  escape  ;  and  what  is  worse, 
they  did  it  under  a  State  Commission.  .  .  .  The 
General  Government  folded  its  arms  and  said — What 
can  we  do  ?-  We  cannot  chastise  the  citizens  of  a 
State." 

"  At  King's  River,  where  there  was  a  public  farm 
maintained  at  considerable  expense,  the  Indians  were 
collected  in  a  body  of  two  or  three  hundred,  and  the 
white  settlers,  who  complained  tliat  the  Government 
wotild  not  do  any  thing  for  them,  drove  them  over 
to  the  Agency  at  the  Tremo. 

"  The  Agent  purchased  from  the  white  settlers  the 
acorns  which  the  Indians  had  gathered  and  laid  up 
for  winter  use  at  King's  River.  ^Notwithstanding 
the  acorns  they  w^ere  very  soon  starved  out  of  the 
Tremo,  and  wandered  away  to  find  a  subsistence 
wherever  they  could.  Many  of  them  perished  of 
hunger  on  the  plains  of  the  San  Joaquin. 

"  At  the  Mattole  Station,  near  Cape  Mendocino,  a 
number  of  Indians  were  murdered  on  the  public  farm 
within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  head-quarters. 
The  settlers  in  the  valley  alleged  that  the  Govern- 


THK  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


159 


iTient  would  not  support  them,  or  take  any  care  of 
them  ;  and  as  settlers  were  not  paid  for  doing  ity 
they  must  kill  them  to  get  rid  of  them. 

"  At  Humboldt  Bay,  and  in  the  vicinity ,  a  t  ^iies  of 
Indian  massacres  by  white  men  continued  for  over 
two  years.  The  citizens  held  public  meetings,  and 
protested  against  the  action  of  the  general  govern- 
ment in  leaving  these  Indians  to  prowl  upon  them 
for  a  support.  .  .  The  State  sent  out  its  militia,  kill- 
ed a  good  many,  and  captured  a  good  many  others, 
who  were  finally  carried  down  to  the  Mendocino  re- 
servation. They  liked  that  place  so  well,  that  they 
left  it  very  soon,  and  went  back  to  their  old  places 
of  resort,  preferring  a  chance  of  life  to  the  certainty 
of  starvation.  During  the  winter  of  last  year  a  num- 
ber of  them  were  gathered  at  Humboldt.  Tlie  whites 
thought  it  was  a  favorable  opportunity  to  get  rid  of 
them  altogether.  So  they  went  in  a  body  to  the  In- 
dian camp  during  the  night,  when  the  poor  wretches 
were  asleep,  shot  all  the  men,  women,  and  children, 
they  could  at  the  first  onslaught,  and  cut  the  throats 
of  the  remainder.  Yery  few  escaped.  Next  morn- 
ing sixty  bodies  lay  weltering  in  their  blood,  the  old 
and  the  young,  male  and  female,  with  every  wound 
gaping  a  tale  of  horror  to  the  civilized  world.  Chil- 
dren climbed  upon  their  mothers'  breasts,  and  sought 
nourishment  from  the  fountains  that  death  had  drain- 
ed ;  girls  and  boj's  lay  here  and  there  with  their 
throats  cut  from  ear  to  ear ;  men  and  women,  cling- 
ing to  each  other  ia  their  terror,  were  found  perfo- 
rated with  bullets ;  or  cut  to  pieces  with  knives ;  all 
were  cruelly  murdered." 


p 

m 


160 


THE  ABNAKIS;   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


This  was  the  result  of  the  system  adopted  by  the 
Government  to  imitate  that  of  the  Catholic  Missions; 
it  was  a  complete  failure.  Two  hundred  and  fift^.- 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  six  or  seven  years  has  in- 
flicted considerable  injury  upon  the  }  oor  Indians ;  it 
has  reduced  them  from  a  hundred  thousand  to  about 
thirt3^  thousand,  and  these  are  exterminated  every 
day.  The  progress  of  settlement  has  driven  them 
from  place  to  place  till  tliere  is  no  longer  a  spot  that 
they  could  call  their  own.  The  same  Mr.  Browne 
says  :  "  I  am  satisfied,  froin  an  acquaintance  of  ele- 
ven years  with  the  Indians  of  California,  that  had  the 
least  care  been  taken  of  them,  these  disgraceful  mas- 
sacres would  never  have  occurred.  A  more  inoifen- 
sive  and  harmless  race  of  beings  does  not  exist  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  But  wherever  they  attempted 
to  procure  a  subsistence,  they  were  hunted  down  ; 
driven  from  the  reservations  by  the  instinct  of  self- 
preserv^ation  ;  shot  down  by  the  settlers  upon  the 
most  frivolous  pretexts  ;  and  abandoned  to  their  late 
by  the  only  power  that  could  have  afforded  them 
protection.  .  .  .  They  have  no  voice  in  public  affairs. 
AH  they  ask,  is  tlie  privilege  of  breathing  the  air 
that  God  gave  to  us  all,  and  living  in  peace  wher- 
ever it  may  be  convenient  to  remove  them.  Their 
history  in  California  is  a  melancholy  record  of  neg- 
lect, and  cruelty;  and  the  part  taken  by  public  men 
high  in  position  in  wresting  from  them  the  very 
means  of  sul^sistence,  is  one  of  which  any  other  than 
professional  politicians  would  be  ashamed."' 


■■4., 


r 


the 


■■ 


CHAPTEK  XX.  1 


CONCLUSION. 


>T  is  humiliating  to  state  that  it  was  publicly  de- 
clared and  every  where  said  in  Maine,  that  no 
white  man  had  been,  or  would  be  convicted  of 
killing  an  Indian.*  One  Penobscot  chief  was  slain 
without  canse,  when  on  a  mission  to  effect  an  ex- 
change of  prisoners ;  another  was  murdered  while 
communicating  with  a  post  under  a  flag  of  truce ; 
another  was  decoyed  on  shipboard,  and  treated  with 
great  indignity  while  under  another  flag  of  truce. 
For  these  murders  and  others  far  more  horrible,  no 
Anglo-Saxon  was  ever  punished  as  the  laws  required. 
They  have  always  escaped  the  extreme  penalty  ot 

P  ■■■    »     11  ■III  ■■■  I   ■■■■—■  —  ■—.■,.  I.    l^ —.11     ■      ,,    II, ■■III  ..I        I M,_i       ,         _i,,„  Wii«^—     I  -^ 

*  Christian  Examiner,  No.  cxci^.  p.  46. 


1^ 


■ 


162 


THE  ABNAKTS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


the  law.  The  Etchemins  of  this  day  know  by  tradi- 
tion the  truth  of  these  facts.  In  1817,  Piol  Zusep 
was  tried  for  his  life  at  Castine,  for  the  murder  of 
William  Knight  at  Bangor,  the  previous  year ;  and 
John  Keptune,  the  present  Lieutenant-Governor, 
after  the  verdict  of  manslaughter,  in  a  thronged  as- 
sembly of  citizens  of  his  own  tribe,  and  of  delegates 
from  the  Passamaquoddy  and  St.  John's,  addressed 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts 
in  mitigation  of  sentence.  His  bearing  was  calm  and 
dignified,  and  he  was  listened  to  with  profound  at- 
tention. "You  know,"  he  spoke,  "  your  people  do  my 
Indians  a  groat  deal  of  wrong.  They  abuse  them  very 
much:  yes,  they  murder  them;  then  they  walk 
right  off,  .  .  .  nobody  touches  them  .  .  .  and  this 
makes  my  heart  burn  "  (he  meant  that  white  men 
w^re  never  so  much  as  arrested). 

The  sentence  of  Piol  Zusep  was  not  mitigated.  He 
was  condemned  to  suffer  the  full  penalty  of  the  law. 
After  a  lapse  of  nearly  forty  years  in  prison,  his  face 
bleached  almost  to  whiteness,  he  could  scarcely  be 
recalled  by  some  persons  who  went  to  see  him.  His 
long  black  liair  tangled  and  knotted,  his  glaring  eyes 
deeply  sunken,  his  hurried  paces  across  his  cell,  his 
coming  to  and  retreating  from  tlie  grate,  and  his 
moans  like  a  child,  and  his  shouts  like  a  madman, 
made  a  fearful  impression  on  tlie  visitors.  Zusep 
died  there  in  jail  !  An  Indian  of  course  must  under- 
go the  full  rigor  of  tlie  law ;  but  no  Anglo-Saxon 
was  ever  punished  for  killing  an  Indian  ! 

The  frauds  against  the  Indians  at  the  truck  or  tra- 
ding houses  were  carj'icd  to  an  ustounding  extent. 


i' 


^ 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


163 


It  would  be  sufficient  to  say  that  even  Cotton  Mather, 
whose  heart  was  hard  against  the  Indians,  was  ob- 
liged to  confess  that  the  beaver  trade  with  the  Indi- 
ans was  very  scandalously  managed.  In  1676  Ran- 
dolph, in  his  narrative  to  the  Privy  Council  of  Eng- 
land, spoke  in  great  bitterness  of  the  general  course 
of  the  Bostonians,  and  accused  the  magistrates  for 
their  profit,  lucre,  and  gain,  so  provoking  the  Indians 
to  hostile  deeds. 

It  would  be  an  easy  but  long  task  to  mention  here 
all  the  injustice,  wrorgs,  and  abuses  perpetrated  by 
the  white  men  against  the  red  race  in  the  United 
States  of  America ;  it  w^ould  req[uire  the  space  of 
several  volumes  to  relate  these  melancholy  events.  It 
is  hoped,  however,  that  it  will  be  done  by  the  per- 
son who  has  to  write  the  history  of  the  noble  red  man. 
It  will  belong  to  him  to  expose  before  the  civilized 
world  the  just  complaints  of  the  Aborigines  of  Ame- 
rica. He  has  to  do  justice  to  the  kindness  and  socia- 
bility of  the  Indians.  If  instead  of  the  imaginary 
romance  of  Uncle  Torn's  Cdbin^  an  historical  work 
had  been  written  on  the  Hed  Man's  Wigwam^  not 
with  a  spirit  to  alienate  a  part  of  the  people  against 
another,  not  to  excite  political  intrigues,  but  with  the 
intention  to  unite  their  hearts  together  to  see  and 
consider  the  wrongs  done  against  the  red  man ;  to  re- 
pair the  evils  which  they  have  inflicted  on  them ; 
to  treat  them  kindly  and  justly  in  the  future;  if 
the  government  bad  taken  only  half  the  trouble 
and  money  spent  for  the  negroes,  to  redress  the 
wrongs  of  the  unlucky  Indians,  who  \yere  the  only 
lords  and  masters  of  this  Continent,  it  would  have 


I 


164 


THE  ABNAKIS:   AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 


appeased  the  wrath  of  God  justly  kindled  against  the 
people  of  this  country,  it  might  have  arrested  the 
chastisement  of  a  civil  war  with  which  the  Almighty 
and  just  Father  of  all  races  has  punished  the  white 
men,  who,  having  robbed  the  Indians  of  their  homes 
and  property,  which  He  had  given  to  them,  now  force 
them  even  to  disappear  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 


■<  ,<«. 


■yK 


the 
the 
:hty 
hite 
•mes 
orce 
h. 


APPENDIX. 


LETTER  OF  BISHOP  CAEROLL  TO  THE 

ABKAKIS. 

Beethken  and  Bei^oved  Ohildeen  in  Jesus  Cheist  : 

I  received  with  the  greatest  pleasure  the  testi- 
mony of  your  attachment  to  your  holy  religion, 
and  I  venerated  the  sacred  Crucifix  sent  by  you  as 
expressive  of  your  faith/ 

Beetheen  and  Ohildeen: 

I  embrace  you  with  the  affection  of  a  Father,  and 
am  exceedingly  desirous  to  procure  for  you  a  worthy 
Teacher  and  Minister  of  God's  holy  Sanctuary,  who 
may  administer  to  your  young  people^  your  sons  and 
your  daughters,  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism ;  may 
instruct  them  and  you  in  the  law  of  God  and  the 
exercises  of  a  Christian  life ;  may  reconcile  you  to 
God,  your  Lord  and  Maker,  after  all  your  transgres- 
sions ;  and  may  perform  for  your  women,  after 
child-bearing,  the  Bites  ordained  by  the  Church  of 
Christ  , 


WBmimmnxmm 


1  66 


APPENDIX. 


Brethren  and  Beloved  Children  : 

As  soon  as  I  received  your  request,  and  was  in- 
formed of  your  necessity,  I  sent  for  one  or  two  vir- 
tuous and  worthy  Priests  to  go  and  remain  with  you, 
that  you  may  never  more  be  reduced  to  the  same 
distressful  situation  in  which  you  have  lived  so  long. 
But  as  they  are  far  distant,  I  am  afraid  they  will  not 
be  with  you  before  the  putting  out  of  the  leaves 
again.  This  should  have  been  done  much  sooner,  if 
I  had  been  informed  of  your  situation.  You  may 
depend  upon  it,  that  you  shall  be  always  in  my 
heart  and  in  my  mind ;  and  if  it  please  God  to  give 
me  time,  I  will  certainly  visit  you  myself. 

Brethren  and  Beloved  Children: 

I  trust  in  that  good  God  that  made  us  all,  and  in 
his  blessed  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  who  redeemed  us,  that 
all  the  Indians  northward  and  eastward  will  be  made 
partakers  of  the  blessing  which  my  desire  is  to  procure 
for  you ;  and  I  rejoice  very  much  that  you  and  they 
wish  to  be  united  to  your  brethren  the  Americans. 
You  have  done  very  well  not  to  receive  amongst 
you  those  ministers  who  go  without  being  called,  or 
without  being  sent  by  that  authority  which  Jesus 
Christ  has  established  for  the  government  of  His 
Church.  Those  whom  I  shall  send  to  you  will  be 
such  good  and  virtuous  priests,  as  instructed  your 
Forefathers  in  the  Law  of  God,  and  taught  them  to 


liSO:'- 


APPENDIX. 


167 


regard  this  life  only  as  a  preparation  for,  and  a  pas- 
sag'j  to  a  better  in  Heaven. 

In  token  of  my  Fatherly  Love  and  sincere  affection, 
I  send  back  to  you,  after  embracing  it,  the  Holy 
Crucifix  which  I  received  with  your  letter,  and  I 
enclose  it  in  a  picture  of  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope, 
tlie  Head  on  earth,  under  Christ,  of  our  Divine  Keli- 
gion ;  and  this  my  answer  is  likewise  accompanied 
with  nine  medals  representing  our  divine  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  most  holy  Mother.  I  desire  that  these 
may  be  received  by  the  Chiefs  of  the  Kiver  St.  John, 
Passamaquady,  and  Michmacs,  who  signed  the  ad- 
dress to  me.  They  came  from,  and  have  received 
the  blessing  of,  our  same  Holy  Father,  the  Yicar  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  government  of  His  Church. 

That  the  blessing  of  God  may  come  down  upon 
you,  your  women  and  children,  and  remain  for  ever, 
is  the  Earnest  prayer  of 

Your  loving  Father,  Friend,  and 

Servant  in  Jesus  Christ, 

4.  J.,  Bishop  of  Baltimore. 

Baltimore,  September  G,  lldl. 


168 


APPENDIX. 


LETTEK    OF   THE  ABNAKIS    INDIANS   TO 
THE  CANONS  OF  CHAKTEES. 

Srereda  niga«sseinan  pita  tferighian  Marin eekk«am- 
bi  pakitinemwerena  pita  «erighek  «etyannemeg,kik- 
hi  kwreremanbanak  neseBisseiiai<akkichik»ereredam- 
en<3sa  anir  egmansa  apaktiniganwaTir.  8rereda  nek- 
kwambi  pakitinem«reg  ni«ra  aii'  eghe  «e«ereineregh 
eban  ereghikikk«i  kecbaiiancliran,  nederotechansi 
beneh4/h«ban  amante  «a  aramikaoked,  amante  keg«e 
pakitinasked,  iie  mina  nedagatchebeitederit  cbanei 
Ben«b«n»b»ban  nekeuskere  siben«b»b8ban :  teba 
teba«  niana,  b»ban  ni  annegb^  pambatameg,  neda- 
ramika«anna  yenihannit  Kerchi  Niaesk  wnansat 
nesisissenawak  pambatam^k  nan«at  «e»andam«k  kicbi 
«reremegsanr  Sanghemaii«  Mariar  «derereman 
egmanwa  Mari  pakitima«a«ichh  rewemank,  kicbi 
wewendam^k  niwa  dakki  essema  endam«bbena, 
essema  newewedam«tfnema  erekameghessibidit 
pambafcami  wewendagbik  ewitcban  wegbeban, 
kweremibbena  ette  nekkaambi, ,  Mari  pita  eang- 
heman«eremeg«sian,  me^iassis  etto  nekkaambi 
newesandamybbena  acacberedam  enena  matchaka- 
meg  oess  s«tfiergbeban  nedakkini^k  cskwa  epiegbe, 
iiekk«zMnbi  nekikta«anna  keneman  nederang^maima 
«*a    keneman    ewi    s^gbembanacbq :    atelis  kedi- 


% 


I  '^ 


APPENDIX. 


169 


:|:' 


wewebena  ksnemaunin  nhagena.  Ureremnitfe  pegita 
nekktfanbekegwssimis  pakitinemareghe  glierysitama- 
we«e«rakedtch  nemittangasena  SAKGMA!NWI 
FKAKgOIS  DE  SALES  wa  naiiKal  kemureg«bban 
tfhaghe  nambi  kemirerena  nanaghena  io  sksansw 
Ipsktfdiganitfitch  askami?*!  eri  mirereg  nahaghena  kia 
askainitfi  teberemine  Mari  werighian  teberemat  An- 
geriak  te  arenambak.  Pegekan  ke«ik«te  ni«vebana 
uriderakamdamussa  khaghek  kenemann  Jeeas  «ri- 
darakaudatch  nereaanganin^kdari  aneuten  tSLgaUi 
mssanrereg  kia  te  kemmantcbari  metchi  na^ghe 
arambada  aBkamisi  io  ekranss,  Mari  ari  askamiwi 
kheramisitch  nekerasxanganena  ne^sik^jtemewaDgane- 
na  amanti  askamiai  teberemieg  amante  askamiwi 
kiktsi-eg  pernemassine  here^janganemk  vikxterawreg. 

Tliis  vow  must  have  been  written  soon  after  the 
conversion  of  the  Abnakis  to  Christianity,  as  appears 
from  the  meaning  of  the  vow,  and  from  the  lan- 
guage, which  is  several  hundred  years  old,  and  obso- 
lete in  many  words  and  expressions. 

Our  Good  Mother,  very  Beloved  Mary  : — ]S"ow 
the  best  oifer  that  we  can  make  is,  that  we  might 
give  up  our  sins  ;  be  willing  that,  through  reverence 
to  our  elder  brother,*  theyf  may  ask  the  for- 
giveness of  our  sins.    Accept  now  the  offer  that  we 


ti 


*  The  Canons  of  Cbartres. 


f  The  Canons. 


iro 


APPENDIX. 


make  of  ourselves  to  you.  "We  now  have  more 
extensively  come  to  the  knowledge  who  made  us, 
and  how  He  went  to  work  to  save  us  by  buying  us. 
Oh,  that  wo  might  have  known  it  before  I  "We  feel 
ashamed,  we  stop  doing  wrong,  and  we  offer  a  repa- 
ration for  our  sins.  He  redeemed  us  while  we  were 
in  sin,  by  our  mother.  "We  do  wrong,  but  it  is  just 
now  that  we  commence  to  be  Christians.  "We  are 
coming  thither  because  we  have  long  ago  lost  the 
Great  Spirits  Five  years  ago  our  eldest  brothers,* 
by  praying,  made  us  pure  Christians.  Great  good 
Mother,  Sangmanf  Mary,  Mary  made  powerful  by 
Him,:]:  make  the  offer  for  us  for  our  sins !  It  is  by 
the  instructions  of  the  Catholic  religion  that  we 
came  to  the  knowledge  that  we  were  in  sin,  and 
that  we  were  committing  sin  ;  but  we  never  knew  it 
before  that  time ;  no,  we  never  did.  Now  you 
know  us,  O  Mary,  very  good  Mother.  "We  are  be- 
come a  little  wiser,  hence  we  feel  ashamed  of  our 
.  bad  conduct  while  we  were  in  the  state  of  a  savage 
wild  life.  Now  we  obey  your  Son — ^what  we  call 
your  Son  ;§  being  baptized  now,  we  want  to  know 

*  Perhaps  the  Canons  of  Chartres,  or  the  Missionaries. 

f  The  title  of  the  Governor  or  Governess.  It  is  the  highest  title 
the  Indians  can  give. 

:|:  The  Great  Spirit.  ' 

§  The  Indian  expression  means  that  the  Son  of  God  was  true  Son 
of  Mary  in  His  humanity. 


APPENDIX. 


171 


whether  we  are  your  children.  It  is  a  little  thing, 
yet  we  offer  it  of  good  will  for.  our  sins.  Speak  for 
us  to  our  Father,  the  Sangman  Francis  de  Sales, 
whose  body  long  time  ago  was  buried  there.  We 
offer  ourselves  to  you  for  ever ;  and  this  wampoon,* 
which  we  give  to  you  for  ever,  be  an  everlasting 
token  between  us  for  ever.  Mary,  good  owner  of 
the  angels  and  of  the  Indians,  one  thing  we  ask  from 
you — that  your  Son  Jesus  may  be  as  safe  in  our 
hearts  as  He  was  safe  in  your  body.  "We  love  you 
and  your  Son  till  we  die,  and  for  ever.  Mary,  ac- 
cept this  wampoon  for  ever.  May  you  accept  our 
words  and  our  offer  by  prayer  for  ever  I  May  you 
own  us  for  ever  I  We  like  to  obey  you.  Place  in 
our  hearts  what  we  are  asking  in  this  petition. 

*  Skwansu  is  an  obsolete  word  for  wampum. 


